Canvas Panel at Art Basel 2009

GENDER, WARS AND CHADORS: Middle Eastern collectors discuss the various influences that either draw or repel them from some of the predominant themes found in Contemporary Middle Eastern art. Are these themes confining stereotypes or fresh expressions of national identity? Who decides?

Date: June 11 2009
Time: 3:00 pm - 3:30 pm
Place: Art Lobby, Art Unlimited Hall of Messe Basel

This collectors' panel is the first of three. Panels with artists and curators respectively will feature in upcoming fairs. The transcripts of these three panels will be published in a limited edition book published by Mixed Media Publishing.

Panelists:
MARYAM EISLER | PATRON | COLLECTOR | IRAN
Maryam Homayoun-Eisler left her native Tehran in 1978 and studied in France and the usa, where she received her MBA from Columbia University in New York in 1993. in 2003, Eisler began collecting art seriously, including Modern British and Contemporary Chinese and Iranian art. Eisler sits on the Asia-Pacific Acquisitions Committee at Tate Modern and co-chairs their Middle Eastern Acquisitions Committee. Recently, Eisler has worked closely with New York's Chelsea Art Museum on the groundbreaking exhibition Iran Inside Out. She has also contributed to the creation of the book Different Sames: New Perspectives in Contemporary Iranian Art (Thames & Hudson, 2009), and the upcoming Unleashed: Turkish Contemporary Art (2010).

MAYA RASAMNY | PATRON/COLLECTOR | LEBANON
British/Lebanese Maya Rasamny's collection encompasses major Western, Chinese and Middle Eastern Artists. She is a patron of London's Tate Gallery and co-chairs Tate Modern's Middle Eastern Acquisitions committee. She is also on the committee of Art Dubai and the selection committee of the Abraaj Capital art Prize and has taken part in a panel discussion on the future of Contemporary Art in the Middle East, moderated by Hans Ulrich-Obrist of the Serpentine Gallery. Rasamny believes that art is the most powerful and durable of international languages and continues to support, acquire and enjoy all that the art world has to offer in order to develop a globalised art world.

BASHAR AL-SHROOGI | PATRON | BAHRAIN
Bashar Al-Shroogi was born in Bahrain to a family of art collectors. Trained as an architect and with a masters in business ethics, since 2000, Al-Shroogi has managed the family collection of Modern and Contemporary art. The collection views individual works as part of an international collective, with an emphasis on quality and style rather than regional delineations. Al-Shroogi has curated museum and gallery shows around the world and is currently establishing the Cuadro art education Centre in Dubai. The centre will offer theoretical and practical courses and facilitate international art residency programs for Middle Eastern artists. Al-Shroogi currently lives and works between Barcelona and Dubai.

Moderator:
ABASEH MIRVALI | ADVISOR FOR SPECIAL PROJECTS AT CANVAS
For the last three years, Abaseh Mirvali has served as Executive Director of the Fundación/Colección Jumex, the internationally renowned Contemporary art collection based in Mexico City. She has overseen the creation and development of Jumex and organised nine major exhibitions, in addition to countless other projects. Mirvali established Jumex as a leading force and reference point in the Contemporary Latin American art world. She is an internationally-recognised Contemporary art commentator and jurist, in addition to sitting on the board of several prestigious international organisations. Mirvali earned a BA in Politics at the University of California and is working towards an MPA in Public Policy from Georgetown University.