Emirati al-Qassemi Joins the MCA Chicago Board of Trustees

CAIRO- 1 August 2017: Emirati art collector Sultan Sooud al-Qassemi is now a member of the board of Trustees of the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago. This makes him the first Arab to ever to reach this position.

Qassemi told Egypt Today, "I joined the board in order to help them expand their collection of Middle Eastern art and to enhance their outreach in the region. The MCA Chicago is one of the great art museums of America and it is an honor to be associated with such a prestigious institution."

He then explained, "I was introduced to the MCA Chicago via Omar Kholeif, Manilow Senior Curator and then nominated by the museum's governance committee and confirmed by the board."

According to Art News, the chair of the museum’s board, Anne Kaplan, stated that “[Qassemi] brings incredible expertise as a leader in global art, culture, and philanthropy and through his work at the Barjeel Art Foundation, he is an important collector of contemporary art.”

Qassemi is the founder of the Barjeel Art Foundation, an independent UAE-based initiative with the goal of contribute to the intellectual development of the art scene in the Arab world. The foundation had exhibitions in different countries, like Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, England, and France. It also curated an exhibition in the Tehran Museum of Modern Art, which is the first time for an exhibition of Arab art in the modern period to take place in Iran.

Moreover, in 2014, Arabian Business listed Sultan Sooud al-Qassemi as one of World’s 100 Most Powerful Arabs under the Thinkers category.