There is no more passionate advocate for art in the Arab world then Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi. The Emirati curator, professor and columnist is on a mission to share inspiring work from diverse artists and promote the work of women from the region.
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00:00 Emirati art collector, educator and columnist Sultan Al-Hasmi believes in the power of art
00:10 to bring people together.
00:13 Since founding the Bajil Art Foundation, one of the largest collections in the Arab world,
00:20 Sultan has built connections with some of the world's leading galleries, museums and
00:25 universities.
00:26 As-salamu alaykum, my name is Sultan Saud Al-Hasmi, I'm an Emirati art collector, columnist and
00:33 educator.
00:34 He's promoting new artists and pioneering fresh perspectives on Arab art, a mission
00:42 that's uniting art lovers across the Gulf region and beyond.
00:49 Sultan, we're here at the Sharjah Art Museum, home of your foundation.
00:57 Can you tell us a bit about what you're doing here and explain your vision for Arab art?
01:03 The foundation, which I established in 2010, is concerned with promoting art from the Arab
01:10 League states, so 22 countries in the Arab world.
01:15 We look at art from the late 19th century to the 21st century, with a focus on the mid-20th
01:21 century.
01:23 My vision for art from my part of the world is for it to be recognized and appreciated
01:29 by people around the world, but more importantly for people from this region, for them to understand
01:34 the value of their artists, the creativity, history, and for them to really learn about
01:41 their own culture through art.
01:44 We need young Arabs to recognize and to be proud of the artistic creativity of their
01:52 people.
01:53 And we've talked off camera, and I know one of the things you're really proud of is the
01:58 balance between male and female artists in your collection.
02:03 Can you explain why that's so important to you?
02:06 My focus since 2019 has been on women artists or artwork created by women artists in the
02:12 Arab world.
02:14 It was a personal challenge I took upon myself, where I was told repeatedly that men were
02:23 in some cases more prominent, someone used the word "better," which was very problematic,
02:29 and of course they had many more opportunities than women did.
02:34 And so when I suggested the idea that I would try to look at balancing the art exhibitions
02:41 in terms of gender, I got some blowback.
02:45 What we realized is that women did not get equal opportunities, but what they did was
02:50 that they started working with different mediums.
02:53 They started experimenting with henna that men almost never touched.
02:58 They did works on glass, they did works using sand, they did works using ceramic, tapestry,
03:04 silk.
03:05 And so I feel like giving women this slight focus allows us to see the diversity of art
03:13 within the Arab world.
03:15 And I'm very pleased with the result, and it's been one of the most fun adventures I've
03:19 had over the past few years.
03:21 Now, you've built collections with famous institutions all over the world.
03:26 New York, Paris, Christie's famously.
03:30 What's driving that demand for Arab art?
03:33 We have lent to over 140 institutions around the world, and I think that there's been a
03:39 great deal of interest in art from the region, partly because the value of this art has been
03:46 going up.
03:47 Artists that we acquired about 10, 15 years ago for a few thousand dollars are today selling
03:53 for hundreds of thousands of dollars.
03:55 We had a major collaboration with Christie's in the summer of 2023.
03:59 A lot of people were talking about the importance of showcasing one of the famous artists from
04:05 the region as the cover image of the exhibition so that we attract visitors.
04:11 But I insisted that we use the work of a lesser-known female artist, a Lebanese artist called Samia
04:21 Oseiran Jumbulat.
04:23 And at the beginning of the exhibition, there was some skepticism about whether it was the
04:28 right choice, but by the end of the exhibition, her art has become so recognized that, according
04:34 to the family, they've been getting phone calls on a daily basis asking for acquisition
04:41 opportunities.
04:42 So it pays to focus on lesser-known and women artists from the region.
04:56 So, Sultan, as we can see from your amazing home, you're clearly a man immersed in art.
05:00 It's your profession, but it's also your passion, isn't it?
05:04 When did this love affair begin?
05:05 Is there an artistic gene in the family?
05:08 My interest in modern art started as a high school student, and I then moved to Paris
05:13 when I was 16 years old.
05:15 That was in the early '90s.
05:17 And of course, I was immersed in modern European art and contemporary European art, visiting
05:23 museums like the Musée d'Orsay, as well as the Louvre, of course.
05:28 Coming back from Paris in the late 1990s, I spent a lot of time with my mom and my late
05:35 father, who was ill those days.
05:38 In many outings, we would go to art galleries.
05:41 Unfortunately, my father passed away in 2005.
05:45 And many years later, as I was going through his albums, putting things together, I came
05:51 across an album, which I thought was family photographs, but actually was newspaper clippings
05:58 of modern and contemporary artworks that he would come across.
06:02 And some of the artists that are in that album are artists that I ended up collecting for
06:08 the collection.
06:09 And I wish that I could have an opportunity to ask my father, "What drew you to this artwork,
06:15 and why did you keep these clippings?"
06:18 You're focused on the future now, so much more that can be done.
06:22 What do your priorities and goals for the next year look like?
06:26 My primary focus in the next year and a half or so is to finally build a museum that can
06:33 house this collection, a collection that in 2010 was comprised of 50 works or so, is today
06:42 in excess of 1,800.
06:45 Building this museum is expensive, but also logistically very challenging and complicated.
06:51 And I've been given a land by the government in Sharjah, and I'm hoping to finally put
06:58 together the funds and also finally the architectural design and kick this project off in the next
07:05 year or so.
07:06 It'll take a couple of years to build, I think.
07:07 I realize that my goal and focus in life should be a cultural goal and a cultural objective.
07:15 My energies should be conserved for the one place where I can make a difference, which
07:21 is in the artistic sphere.
07:23 And I've decided to focus almost fully on that.
07:26 And by the way, a lot of objectives that are also political and societal can be achieved
07:35 through the cultural sphere.
07:36 So once you educate people about their culture, it gives them an opportunity to be proud of
07:42 themselves.
07:43 It gives them an opportunity to dream of better things in the future.
07:47 So that definitely ties in together in the end.
07:50 A lot of effort and a noble goal.
07:52 Sultan, thanks so much for joining us on the Dialogue.
07:55 Thank you so much, Guy.
07:56 Thank you.
07:56 [MUSIC PLAYING]