We visit Basel Dalloul at the Dalloul Artist Collective to discuss the genesis of the Dalloul Art Foundation and the mission of the new artist collective. A technologist and lawyer by training, Basel shares his family’s journey into collecting art and the vision his father had for a Pan-Arab art collection in Beirut. They discuss how Arabism failed politically, but that culturally, the art from the region shows a great deal of sync and kinship, with artists empathizing with their Arab brethren. Central to the discussion is the role of art as an archive of history. Basel highlights the importance of Arab art as a reference site and how connecting artists from Morocco to Iraq reveals common themes that some may find inconvenient to tell. The conversation then shifts to the need to decolonize the art world, critiquing the tendency to celebrate Western art and seek validation from Western curators. Basel challenges the routine belief that Arab artists or art professionals are "not competent or good enough". He also addresses the broken global gallery system, which often dictates terms to artists and unfairly takes up to 50% of an artist's take. The mission of the Dalloul Artist Collective is to shift focus from the art to the artist, acting as an artist management agency to empower and educate the artist community.

0:00 Introduction

2:12 The Vision for the Dalloul Art Foundation: Pan-Arab Art

3:36 Relationship to Art Growing Up

5:55 Shifting from Western to Arab Art Collecting

8:45 Failure Is Not An Option

10:47 Authenticating Art and The Lack of a Reference Site for Arab Art

12:53 Organizing the Single Largest Private Collection of Modern Contemporary Arab Art

15:05 The Kinship of Arab Culture

17:57 Artists as Archivists of History

19:46 Beirut: A De Facto Cultural Hub With No Taboos

22:54 Critiquing the Celebration of Western Art Over Arab Art

25:57 Dalloul Artist Collective: Focusing on The Artist

27:18 The Broken Global Gallery System

32:11 The State of Art Collecting in The Arab World

35:56 Artists Basel Dalloul Adores

38:02 The Need to Educate the Arab Youth on Arab Artists

38:48 The Story Behind Ayman Baalbaki’s Moulatham

41:26 Empowering Artists with Transparency and Business Savvy

Basel Dalloul Founded the Dalloul Art Foundation in 2017 to manage and promote his father’s (Dr. Ramzi Dalloul) vast collection of modern and contemporary Arab art. At around 4000 pieces it is the largest collection of its kind in private hands. The collection includes but is not limited to paintings, photography, sculpture, video and mixed media art. Basel has had a passion for art since he was very young, inspired by both his mother and father, whom are also passionate about art in all its forms. Basel also founded NOOR Group in 2000 in response to the Egyptian government’s announced goal of becoming the hub of the information technology (IT) industry in the Middle East. As Chairman and CEO, he has set the overall direction of NOOR, bringing the first region-wide, full-service IT development program to the area. He holds a Bachelor of Science in finance from American University and a Juris Doctor and MBA from Georgetown University, both in Washington, DC. Basel also studied electrical engineering and computer science at Rice University in Houston, TX, and undertook comparative studies of American and British common law and procedural law at Oxford University in England. He co-taught a course in entertainment law and the Internet at Georgetown University Law Center and is a frequent speaker and seminar leader at IT conferences worldwide.

Connect with Bassel Dalloul 👉

https://instagram.com/dafbeirut

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