Qatar Museums to present ‘Expanded Tradition. Contemporary Craft Practices in Mexico’
<p>Doha, Qatar: This fall, Qatar Museums, the nation’s preeminent institution for art and culture, and Years of Culture, Qatar’s cross-cultural exchange initiative, will present “Expanded Tradition. Contemporary Craft Practices in Mexico”.</p> <p>The exhibition focuses on a group of artisans rooted in established traditions who are innovating from within and traces the continuity of Mexico’s…
Doha, Qatar - This fall, Qatar Museums and Years of Culture will jointly present "Expanded Tradition. Contemporary Craft Practices in Mexico" at M7, Qatar's hub for fashion and design innovation. The exhibition, curated by Ana Elena Mallet and designed by LANZA Atelier, will run from October 27 through December 26, 2026.
Focused on artisans who blend tradition with innovation, the show highlights how Mexico's craft heritage continues to evolve. Instead of presenting finished objects, the exhibition emphasizes the artisanal process and its transformation through new visual narratives. These narratives respond to contemporary issues like sustainability, authorship, global trade, local economies, and creative evolution while remaining rooted in the past.
The exhibition is divided into five thematic sections: Inheriting the Gesture, Material Fictions, Imagined Territories, Wearing Identity, and Inhabiting Ancestral Futures. These sections explore themes such as the transmission of knowledge through embodied gestures, the creation of visual narratives via imagined landscapes, and the reinterpretation of traditional garments as a means of exploring identity and gender.
Featured artists hail from various regions of Mexico and work in a range of crafts, including dress-making, textiles, jewelry, furniture design, and pottery. Over 100 objects will be displayed, such as gourds turned into ornate vases by Erandine de Saint Phalle Navarro, filigree earrings crafted from lapis lazuli and local stones by Elizabeth Rangel Roque, and clay figurines depicting queens and weavers by Rodrigo de la Cruz Cabrera.
The exhibition's curator, Ana Elena Mallet, emphasizes that tradition is not something static but dynamic, continuously expanding and reshaped by new hands. This exhibition, part of the Qatar Canada and Mexico 2026 Year of Culture, invites visitors to witness how craft remains alive and relevant in the present day.
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