ABOUT
Basma Al Sulaiman
Basma Al Sulaiman photographed by Manal Al Dowayan at her residence in Jeddah, next to a work by Abdulnasser Gharem
Born in Jeddah Saudi Arabia, Basma Al Sulaiman is considered one of the 100 most influential people in the Art World and one of the most relevant collectors and art patrons in the Middle East. In 2011, she founded BASMOCA (Basma AlSulaiman Museum of Contemporary Art), the first virtual museum in the world relying on cutting edge visual technologies to share her collection among a wider audience.
In addition to being a long-standing patron of the arts, Basma is also a founding member of the Saudi Art Council and has spearheaded the Jeddah Sculpture Park in Saudi Arabia. In 2014, she was the first Saudi woman to be honored for her contribution to arts and culture in Saudi Arabia.
Basma collects International Contemporary Art as well as Middle Eastern contemporary Art, with a strong focus on Saudi artists as she is keen on establishing intellectual and artistic links between her home country and the rest of the world. Her international collection includes works by El Anatsui, Georg Baselitz, Tracey Emin, Zeng Fanzhi, Zhang Huan, David Hockney, Yue Minjun, Bridget Riley, Joana Vasconcelos and Bill Viola among others.
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Her passion and belief in Saudi artists led her to acquire some of the most significant artists in the Kingdom alongside her international collection over the years. In 2015, she was invited to share highlights from her Saudi collection as well as BASMOCA’s concept with the Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris. In 2022, the Royal Commission for AlUla invited her to share pieces from her collection to a seminal exhibition titled “What Lies Within”. The exhibition was the first in a series in AlUla celebrating the legacy of pioneering collectors and patrons in Saudi Arabia.
Basma has loaned works from her collection to museum exhibitions around the world. She has also donated pieces to the permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Smithsonian, the LACMA, the British Museum and MAK Vienna amongst others. One of the key missions behind her collection is to preserve the legacy of her late son Mohammed Juffali (1988-2012). Basma holds a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature and a diploma in Modern and Contemporary Art from Christie’s.