Amazigh Hair Couture
A celebration of Amazigh hair traditions as living expressions of memory, identity and cultural preservation. On view from 27 October 2025 to 12 January 2026 at M7, Doha, Qatar. Curated by IKT member Rajae El Mouhandiz.
Amazigh Hair Couture reclaims authorship of the aesthetic traditions of the Amazigh people, the Indigenous communities of North Africa, with traditions rooted primarily across Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia, which have been historically co-opted by the global fashion industry. Organised across four thematic zones - Roots and Rituals, Body and Soul, Reframing the Gaze, and Crafting Continuity - the exhibition explores how hair serves as a vital carrier of memory, beauty, resistance, and identity within matrilineal Amazigh cultures. Drawing from a history stretching back to the Neolithic period, around 10,000 BC, the works on view span archival material contemporary practice, and highlight the resilience, creativity, and dignity embedded in these rituals, affirming hair as a medium of care, representation, and intergenerational legacy.
Maha Ghanim Al Sulaiti, Director of M7, said: “Amazigh Hair Couture Exhibition is a powerful celebration of identity and artistic expression, reflecting M7’s mission to elevate diverse voices and connect regional talents with global audiences. We are proud to continue our partnership with Ilham Mestour and provide a platform for Arab and North African designers and artists such as Lalla Essaydi and Amina Agueznay to continue to champion and reclaim authorship over their narratives, sharing traditions in ways that are both contemporary and rooted in culture. This exhibition offers a compelling journey through time, inviting viewers to explore how traditional practices remain relevant in today's world.”
The exhibition, led by Creative Director Ilham Mestour, a Moroccan-born, Netherlands-based artist and curated by IKT Member Rajae El Mouhandiz, an interdisciplinary artist and curator based in Rotterdam, brings together fine art photography, scent, hair installations, textile works, and ethnographic archival material. The exhibition offers an homage, reimagining ancestral Amazigh hairstyles as sculptural forms, poetic gestures, and powerful symbols of generational strength.
Ilham Mestour, Creative Director and Hair Artist, said: “My work continues to pay homage to the women who came before me. Hair is not only beauty; it is lineage, it is strength, it is memory. Through this exhibition, I honour my Amazigh ancestry by transforming inherited rituals into my work globally, carrying forward the voices of the past. My collaboration with M7, from teaching in the Mastering Hair masterclass to presenting my work in this exhibition, enables me to continue to share these traditions and ensure they remain alive for future generations of creatives.
Rajae El Mouhandiz, Curator, said: “Amazigh Hair Couture is more than an exhibition; it is a tribute to the women who wove resistance into braids and encoded memory into form. By presenting hair as a living archive of memory, beauty, andresilience, we affirm the matrilineal traditions that have carried Amazigh identity across generations. Through a mixture of archival footage, visual art, a scent installation, and pieces from the Qatar Museums collection, the exhibition creates a dialogue between heritage and the present. It reframes these practices as both contemporary and timeless, reclaiming a visual language that has too often been appropriated, restoring it to its rightful context of dignity and creativity.”
Celebrated artists such as Lalla Essaydi and Amina Agueznay will also participate in the exhibition, contributing to widening the dialogue around heritage, identity and contemporary expression. Together, these works trace Amazigh traditions within the broader cultural continuum of North Africa, showing how the past meets the present as designers reimagine tradition, heritage, and identity to create work that speaks to today.
Amazigh Hair Couture is organised as a legacy of the Qatar - Morocco 2024 Year of Culture, which was one of the initiative’s most beloved celebrations, with a strong legacy of ongoing partnerships across heritage, creative economies, social and economic development and innovation.
Also on view at M7 will be Houbara Haven: A Chaumet Tiara, an exhibition debuting the winning design from Qatari artist Aisha Alattiya, and FTA: Threads of Impact, celebrating the seven year anniversary of Fashion Trust Arabia (FTA), a creative initiative launched by Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, Her Excellency Sheikha Al Mayassa Bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, and Tania Fares, FTA Co-Founder.
The M7 exhibition programme is part of Qatar Museums’ 20th anniversary programming which is being celebrated under the banner of Evolution Nation, an 18-month campaign to honour the nation’s cultural journey over the past 50 years. It is also part of the Qatar Creates Fall/Winter 2025 season.
For more information, please visit QATAR MUSEUMS website
About M7
Established by Qatar Museums under the leadership of its Chairperson, Her Excellency Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, M7 stands as Qatar’s leading epicentre for innovation in fashion, design and technology. It is committed to advancing the growth of Qatar’s creative economy by providing designers the resources, opportunities and platforms to grow a successful business both locally and internationally, while facilitating connections for designers within the fashion and design industry. Located in the heart of Msheireb Downtown Doha, M7’s initiatives include incubation and mentorship programmes, world-class exhibitions and pop-ups, community learning and events. M7 works in close collaboration with its Resident Partners, The Cutting Studio, Studio 7, Scale 7, Fromm, and Nestwork amongst others. M7 has also hosted world-class exhibitions including ‘Masterpieces of Furniture Design’ (2023), ‘Forever Valentino’ (2022), ‘Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams’ (2021), and is home to other premier initiatives such as Design Doha Biennale, Tasweer Photography Festival, and Fashion Trust Arabia.
ABOUT QATAR MUSEUMS
Now marking its 20th anniversary, Qatar Museums (QM), the nation’s preeminent institution for art and culture, provides authentic and inspiring cultural experiences through a growing network of museums, heritage sites, festivals, public art installations, and programmes. QM preserves and expands the nation’s cultural offerings, sharing art and culture from Qatar, the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia (MENASA) with the world and enriching the lives of citizens, residents, and visitors.
Under the patronage of His Highness the Amir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, and led by its Chairperson, Her Excellency Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, QM has made Qatar a vibrant centre for the arts, culture, and education in the Middle East and beyond. QM is integral to the goal of developing an innovative, diverse, and progressive nation, bringing people together to ignite new thinking, spark critical cultural conversations, and amplify the voices of Qatar’s people. Since its founding in 2005, QM has overseen the development of museums and festivals including the Museum of Islamic Art (MIA) and MIA Park, Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, the National Museum of Qatar (NMoQ), 3-2-1 Qatar Olympic and Sports Museum, QM Gallery Al Riwaq, QM Gallery Katara, the Tasweer Qatar Photo Festival, and Design Doha. Future projects include Dadu: Children’s Museum of Qatar, Art Mill Museum, Qatar Auto Museum and the Lusail Museum.
Through its newly created Creative Hub, QM also initiates and supports projects—such as the Fire Station Artist in Residence, the Tasweer Qatar Photo Festival, M7, the creative hub for innovation, fashion and design, and Liwan Design Studios and Labs—that nurture artistic talent and create opportunities to build a strong and sustainable cultural infrastructure.
Animating everything that Qatar Museums does is an authentic connection to Qatar and its heritage, a steadfast commitment to inclusivity and accessibility, and a belief in creating value through invention.