In this interview, Art Radar speaks with Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi and curator Suheyla Takesh to learn the story behind the Barjeel Art Foundation’s most “iconic” masterpiece and one of the organisation’s most recent acquisitions. Read more »
Sultan Al Sooud Qassemi’s Message to Youth
Sheraa Sharjah speaks to Sultan Al Qassemi, Founder of Barjeel Art, about his message to youth At Step Conference 2016. Read more »
Why the Arab world must embrace placing art online
Unfortunately, many collectors in the Arab world shy away from placing their art collection online. But art institutions and collectors in the Arab world need to make a giant leap into the present day and invest in creating online portals for the region’s art. We can all play a part in countering the negative narrative of extremists in the region by virtually displaying our arts and culture. Read more »
Middle East commentator Sultan Al-Qassemi encourages students to share their perspective
Public affairs commentator Sultan Sooud Al-Qassemi addressed the Northwestern University in Qatar (NU-Q) community last week and encouraged students to develop skills in as many fields as possible and to speak out on issues that concern them. Read more »
The Arab World’s Other Migration Problem
Much of the world has been horrified by recent scenes of mostly Arab migrants drowning in the Mediterranean. However, migration has long been a trademark of the Middle East, and today it threatens to clear the region of its rich diversity. The lack of tolerance of minorities—both ancient, as in the Christians and Jews, as well as recent, as in the large minorities from the subcontinent in the Gulf—runs contrary to the Middle East’s long history as a cultural, ethnic, and religious mosaic. Read more »
Why is a ‘free’ Egypt more prudish about sex than Saudi Arabia?
Last month an Egyptian appeal court sentenced one of the region’s most promising young novelists, Ahmed Naji, to two years in jail for writing a story. Much has been written about the case but what intrigued me is that it appears that as the ceiling of what is publishable in the Arab Gulf States rises, the ceiling of what is allowed in Egypt keeps declining. Read more »