Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi is among the leaders of a cultural shift that over the last decade has brought modern and contemporary art from the Arab world to global attention. He talks to AramcoWorld about his work with the Barjeel Art Foundation in generating cultural awareness of modern Arab art. Read more »
The Curator
In this Harper’s Magazine feature, Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi reflects on his journey as an art collector and the social, cultural and historical importance of collecting modern Arab art. Read more »
Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi on Barjeel Art Foundation, showcasing Art to Unite People, adding to the History of Art and on the Power of Technology for the Arts
Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi believes in the power of art, he’s made it his mission to showcase how art can help bring people together, unite them regardless of their identity, religion, nationality or whichever label we are given. Through his foundation, the Barjeel Art Foundation, he has opened up his art collection to all, for people to be inspired by art, and in turn breath out inspiration and hopefully empathy towards humanity. In this interview, Sultan discusses his first discoveries of art and how technology and social media have paved the way to give artists a platform. Read more »
The Arabian Gulf in the Social Media Era
In this short feature, Sultan Sooud al Qassemi discusses the importance of Arab writers and thinkers in reclaiming their own narratives, and the reshaping of modern political discourse in the region during the social media age, that encourages a spirit of debate in an increasingly interconnected world. Read more »
Intellectuals Finally Eclipse Religious Figures in GDI’s Arab world Thought Leaders Rankings
Raseef22, an independent media platform inspired by the Arab Spring discusses Sultan’s inclusion in the 2018 rankings of Thought Leaders in the Arab world released by Swiss think tank Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute (GDI). Read more »
Reflections: Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi
“Remember: Empty the storage. Ideally everything should be on display.” These are the words Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi told Barjeel Art Foundation director Karim Sultan when he joined us in early 2016. Since then, Barjeel has escalated its already active loans and exhibitions programs. Read more »