Building a Better Future Doreen Toutikian, founding director of Beirut Design Week, shares her hopes and goals for the 2018 edition of this key annual event with Artscoops   What was behind the decision to choose ‘Design and the City’ as the theme for the seventh edition of Beirut Design Week (BDW2018)? This year we created a new board...

Championing a Cross-Cultural Language Natalya Andakulova, founder of the Andakulova Gallery in Dubai, believes that Central Asia’s art is the ideal medium for relaying the region’s rich culture and fascinating history to an increasingly wider audience   What prompted you to open the Andakulova Gallery?  I was born in the most...

A Room with a View Holding true to its founding principles, the Beirut Art Salon is set to provide visitors to its 2018 edition an exhibition of exciting works by emerging artists and much more   The task of selecting participants for the 2018 Beirut Art Salon exhibition in June/July was never going to be easy for its organisers, given...

The Journey of a Lifetime In a wide-ranging interview, Rev. Canon Paul-Gordon Chandler, founding president of the non-profit CARAVAN organisation, tells Artscoops why he believes art is the ideal catalyst for changing negative perceptions and dissolving differences in the universal quest for harmony and peace  CARAVAN was created with...

In Praise of an Extraordinary and Creative Asset Salma Shaheem, head of Middle Eastern markets at The Fine Art Group, talks to Artscoops about the rising popularity of Contemporary art, the challenges that regional unrest has produced and what’s hanging in her apartment What advice do you give an enthusiast who’s looking to buy their first...

A Treasure Trove of Texts Nada Shabout, one of the editors of the recently published compendium Modern Art in the Arab World: Primary Documents (2018), talks to Artscoops about the decade-long journey of putting together this landmark opus of writings on Modernism by 20th-century Arab intellectuals and artists, and what she hopes it will...

Coming Home Karim Sultan, director and curator at Barjeel Art Foundation, which manages, preserves and exhibits the personal art collection of Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi, talks to Artscoops about the museum and cultural institution’s decision to display 100 or so of its works long term at the Sharjah Art Museum and the immersive experience of...

On Spaces and Places Artscoops talks to Hala Younes about the challenge and satisfaction of organising Lebanon's first-time participation at the Venice Biennale for Architecture Exhibition When Hala Younes discovered that the theme chosen for the 16th edition of the Venice Biennale for Architecture Exhibition was ‘Freespace’, her desire to...

On a Level Popular, unpretentious and always remaining true to her beliefs, the artist Yasmina Alaoui appears to have tapped into a desire among many for authenticity with her sculptures and mixed-media paintings.   Yasmina Alaoui is certainly not one for remaining in her comfort zone.  While many artists would be happy to continue...