Cultureshock Connects
Issue 2
Welcome to the first issue of Cultureshock Connects in 2026. We are excited to share the fresh, innovative content we’ve made in partnership with some of the world’s top arts organisations and luxury brands. Featured in this issue are Ai Weiwei, Art Basel Qatar, Sotheby’s International Realty, Qatar Museums, Hauser & Wirth’s Neil Wenman, Sir John Soane’s Museum, Sophia Al Maria and more.
Art Basel comes to Qatar
All eyes are on Doha as it hosts the newest edition of Art Basel in early February. Q+A, the new print and online magazine published by Cultureshock for Qatar Museums, is a great resource for visitors to the fair and anyone wishing to explore the rich art scene in this beautiful Middle Eastern city. Discover the astonishing range of galleries and artists exhibiting at the fair, meet Qatari-American artist Sophia Al Maria and don’t miss the special site-specific installations that will animate downtown Doha. This issue features original cover art by Wael Shawky, the celebrated Egyptian artist who is Art Basel Qatar’s artistic director.
Your guide to Doha exhibitions
Whether you are coming to Qatar’s capital for Art Basel or just want to keep up with the happenings in this surging new art capital, the online cultural events calendar we produce for Qatar Museums is the single best guide to the unmissable exhibitions on view during Art Basel Qatar. Among the offerings are: I. M. Pei and the Making of the Museum of Islamic Art and I. M. Pei: Life is Architecture (the definitive retrospective, at Al Riwaq); Sneakers Unboxed (3-2-1 Qatar Olympic and Sports Museum); Resolutions: Celebrating 15 Years of Mathaf (Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art) and Rock on Top of Another Rock, a monumental public art project by Peter Fischli and David Weiss.
Luxury homes outperform the market
The great wealth transfer, increased inventory, and a trend toward multigenerational living are among the biggest factors powering the luxury real estate market today. Dig into the fascinating data and insights in the 2026 Luxury Outlook® report, a twice-yearly review we create with Sotheby’s International Realty. For anyone in the market for a luxury home, the report is essential reading.
Art Thinking with Hauser & Wirth’s Neil Wenman
The art gallery Hauser & Wirth is a truly international concern with 17 outposts in 12 cities and a global list of 110 artists and estates. In the third episode of Cultureshock’s podcast Art Thinking, Neil Wenman, the gallery’s global creative director, talks to host Vadim Grigoryan about the transformative power of art, artists’ roles as agents of change and how creative freedom is essential to getting the most out of artistic collaboration.
A “permanently magical” gem in London
It may not be as well known as the Tate or National Gallery, but Sir John Soane’s Museum in London is a house of treasures just minutes’ walk from the British Museum. Its vast collection of art, antiquities and architectural models – housed in the neoclassical architect’s home – is endlessly fascinating. New director Will Gompertz has overseen the introduction of an innovative and contemporary approach to programming. Find out how the museum is expanding its reach and revisit a year of extraordinary exhibitions in the Annual Review 2024 / 25, produced by Cultureshock.
Making Sense with Tim Marlow and Ai Weiwei
Artist and activist Ai Weiwei has fused the political and poetic throughout his astounding career. In this episode of Cultureshock’s Making Sense, the podcast series hosted by Design Museum director (and Cultureshock co-founder) Tim Marlow, the influential Chinese artist talks about his life and career, including his early childhood in the Gobi desert and his 81-day secret detention by the Chinese government. Weiwei also discusses his use of humor and irony, and why tricks, parallel meanings and coded references are key to the art he creates. Listen here, or wherever you get your podcasts.