BMW Art Guide by Independent Collectors
Barjeel Art Foundation
Modern and contemporary art from four corners of the Arab world
![View of the Maraya Art Centre, Sharjah](/site/assets/files/20081/2021-11-17_06-56-35_barjeel-art-foundation_bmw_art_guide_by_independent_collectors.640x0.jpg?v=1565227003 640w, /site/assets/files/20081/2021-11-17_06-56-35_barjeel-art-foundation_bmw_art_guide_by_independent_collectors.jpg?v=1585827140 1024w)
![Barjeel Art Foundation, 2nd floor, Maraya Art Centre, Sharjah](/site/assets/files/20090/2021-11-17_07-53-29_barjeel-art-foundation_bmw_art_guide_by_independent_collectors.640x0.jpg 640w, /site/assets/files/20090/2021-11-17_07-53-29_barjeel-art-foundation_bmw_art_guide_by_independent_collectors.jpg 1024w)
The term “Arab world” comprises a vast territory spanning from the Middle East to North Africa, subsuming the Levant, Maghreb, Egypt, the Gulf Arab, and Iraq—places strongly characterized by their own history and culture. This internal diversity of the Arab world’s countries lies at the basis of Sultan Sooud Al-Qassemi’s art collection, which includes over 500 works by both modern and contemporary Arab artists, such as Shakir Hassan Al Said, Khaled Hafez, and Lara Baladi.
![GCC COLLECTIVE, Micro Council, 2013. Courtesy Kraupa-Tuskany Zeidler and Barjeel Art Foundation, Sharjah](/site/assets/files/20086/2021-11-17_07-33-03_barjeel-art-foundation_bmw_art_guide_by_independent_collectors.640x0.jpeg 640w, /site/assets/files/20086/2021-11-17_07-33-03_barjeel-art-foundation_bmw_art_guide_by_independent_collectors.jpeg 1024w)
![DIA AZZAWI, Mask of the Pretenders, 1966. Courtesy Barjeel Art Foundation, Sharjah](/site/assets/files/20086/2021-11-17_07-33-15_barjeel-art-foundation_bmw_art_guide_by_independent_collectors.640x0.jpeg 640w, /site/assets/files/20086/2021-11-17_07-33-15_barjeel-art-foundation_bmw_art_guide_by_independent_collectors.jpeg 1024w)
Sultan Al-Qassemi spent over a decade amassing his collection, which was opened to the public in 2010, on the second floor of the Maraya Art Centre, in Al Qasba, the entertainment hub of Sharjah.
“What’s the point of art,” he asked in the local daily newspaper The National, “if it is not shared?”.
![Barjeel Art Foundation, 2nd floor, Maraya Art Centre, Sharjah](/site/assets/files/20085/2021-11-17_07-21-15_barjeel-art-foundation_bmw_art_guide_by_independent_collectors.640x0.jpg 640w, /site/assets/files/20085/2021-11-17_07-21-15_barjeel-art-foundation_bmw_art_guide_by_independent_collectors.jpg 1024w)
![Barjeel Art Foundation, 2nd floor, Maraya Art Centre, Sharjah](/site/assets/files/20085/2021-11-17_07-24-07_barjeel-art-foundation_bmw_art_guide_by_independent_collectors.640x0.jpg 640w, /site/assets/files/20085/2021-11-17_07-24-07_barjeel-art-foundation_bmw_art_guide_by_independent_collectors.jpg 1024w)
View deeper inside the Barjeel Art Foundation Collection with this Online Exhibition on IC, Imperfect Chronology, shown at London’s Whitechapel Gallery 09.15–01.17.
All images Courtesy Barjeel Art Foundation, Sharjah.
More Information on Barjeel Art Foundation