Marshmallow Laser Feast exhibition makes Doha debut

Northwestern University in Qatar's Media Majlis Museum and ACMI will present All That Is Unseen in Doha, the first major exhibition in Qatar and the wider region by London artist collective Marshmallow Laser Feast.

The exhibition will run at the Media Majlis Museum on Northwestern's campus in Education City and will be free to attend. It premiered at ACMI in Melbourne and later travelled to the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa before making its Middle East debut in Doha.

All That Is Unseen explores biological and cosmic systems beyond ordinary human perception. Through large-scale video works, guided meditation and interactive elements, the exhibition moves from the formation of a single cell to the birth of galaxies.

Marshmallow Laser Feast is known for immersive installations, film, performance and extended reality projects. Its work explores the relationship between human perception and the natural world, often through collaborations with scientists, ecologists and other researchers.

The Doha presentation has been reworked for the Media Majlis Museum, with the audience journey and context adapted for the venue. The exhibition draws on collaborations with artists, filmmakers, musicians and scientists including Terrence Malick, Edward R. Pressman, Cate Blanchett, Daisy Lafarge, Jon Hopkins, Jóhann Jóhannsson, Meredith Monk, Howard Skempton and Jonny Greenwood.

Seb Chan, Director and Chief Executive Officer of ACMI, reflected on the show's reception in Australia and New Zealand.

"ACMI is excited to have our survey exhibition of Marshmallow Laser Feast come to Qatar with Media Majlis Museum and Northwestern Qatar. This exhibition has had a transformational impact in Melbourne and most recently in New Zealand, and we hope the exhibition excites Qatari audiences in similar ways," Chan said.

Regional debut

The exhibition marks another international partnership for the Media Majlis Museum, which focuses on journalism, communication, media and art. The museum describes itself as the first university museum in the Arab world dedicated to those fields and has used exhibitions to examine questions of language, identity, technology and news.

For Northwestern University in Qatar, the project fits into a broader effort to frame media as part of cultural memory and public debate, rather than simply as communication tools. That approach has shaped the museum's programme since its launch, combining academic and public-facing work.

Marwan M. Kraidy, Dean and Chief Executive Officer of Northwestern Qatar, linked the exhibition to that institutional focus.

"At Northwestern Qatar, we believe that media are not merely technologies of communication, but powerful archives of memory, identity, and human experience," Kraidy said.

"This collaboration between the Media Majlis Museum and ACMI brings together stories, histories, and perspectives across continents, inviting audiences in Doha to reflect on how media shape the ways we see ourselves and one another. It is a testament to the power of cultural exchange and to our shared commitment to fostering dialogue through evidence-based storytelling," he added.

Artist perspective

The collective said the works were developed through research ranging from the Amazon rainforest to outer space. Those references reflect a practice that often translates scientific and environmental data into sensory experiences for museum audiences.

"We are thrilled to present All That Is Unseen at the Media Majlis Museum. This exhibition is a celebration of life, and explores our continued fascination with what sits just beyond the reach of our senses. Created through collaborations with scientists, researchers, and technologists, these artworks draw on everything from scanning trees in the Amazon and listening in on black holes to mapping the human body in microscopic detail. Together, they invite audiences to experience the invisible systems that connect us to one another, to the natural world, and to the wider universe. In bringing this work to Qatar for its first presentation in the region, we hope audiences feel these connections too," Ersin said.

The partnership also extends ACMI's touring work beyond its home market. As Australia's national museum of screen culture, ACMI has increasingly developed exhibitions that combine film, digital art and interactive design, placing it within a wider group of museums using screen-based works to attract new audiences.

In Doha, the arrival of All That Is Unseen adds another international exhibition to a cultural landscape that continues to expand through museum openings, imported shows and cross-border collaborations. Its focus on immersive media and scientific storytelling also reflects growing institutional interest in exhibitions that sit between art, technology and education.

The exhibition will remain open until January 21, with public access from Sunday to Thursday between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m.