The world’s eyes turn to Dubai, a city that effortlessly blends innovation and tradition, as it continues to redefine the global art landscape. This dynamic hub of creativity and culture has become a magnet for collectors whose passion drives the city’s thriving art community. Whitewall takes a moment to connect with five Dubai collectors to know, uncovering the stories behind their exceptional art collections and the cultural bridges they build in this electric metropolis.
Rumana Nazim
Founder of The Edit Dubai, Co-Founder of LivWell
Rumana Nazim.
Rumana Nazim is a lawyer and entrepreneur who has made a notable impact in the realms of sustainable fashion, design, and wellness. As the founder of The Edit Dubai, a lifestyle destination, Nazim curates a selection of conscious contemporary fashion labels from around the world, partnering with like-minded designers and brands to promote responsible fashion. The Edit has become a hub for fashion, art, and lifestyle, complemented by its matcha bar and art-driven atmosphere, creating a unique destination that celebrates creativity, wellness, and community.
Nazim’s vision extends beyond The Edit, as she has also co-founded LivWell, a venture dedicated to wellness and sustainable living. Through both projects, Nazim continues to drive her vision for a more mindful and creative lifestyle, building a community that shares her values and inspiring meaningful connections and a sense of well-being.
WHITEWALL: What is your advice for aspiring collectors, just getting started?
RUMANA NAZIM: For aspiring collectors just getting started, I’d advise trusting your instincts and collecting art that resonates with you, even if you’re not sure why. Start small, explore different styles, try not to get intimidated and learn about the artists and their processes. Ultimately, collecting art is about building a personal connection, so don’t overthink it and enjoy the process of discovering new pieces that speak to you.
“For aspiring collectors just getting started, I’d advise trusting your instincts and collecting art that resonates with you, even if you’re not sure why,”
—Rumana Nazim
WW: Can you share a recent acquisition you’re excited about?
RN: While it isn’t a recent acquisition, I only recently had Rana Begum‘s Chainlink piece installed in my home, and it’s one of my favorite works. While it’s the first piece I’ve acquired from her, I love the way it challenges the boundaries between painting, sculpture, and design. There’s something really special about the cultural context she brings to her art, given her British-Bangladeshi background and it’s sparked some great conversations!
Ali Mohammadioun
Architect and Designer
Ali Mohammadioun.
Ali Mohammadioun is a Dubai-based architect, designer, and art collector known for his emotionally-driven and highly personal collecting practice. With a focus on modern and contemporary art from the Persian and Arab worlds, his collection explores themes of identity, displacement, and cultural duality—particularly the layered experiences of those navigating life between East and West.
Ali is deeply committed to fostering dialogue between established masters and emerging voices, often curating his acquisitions to create nuanced conversations between generations. His collection is grounded in figurative practices, with a strong focus on Iranian modernism and contemporary Middle Eastern narratives, yet he also embraces the organic and evolving medium of nature itself—treating plants as living art and integral to the way he experiences and shapes space.
WHITEWALL: Can you share a recent acquisition you’re excited about?
ALI MOHAMMADIOUN: A recent piece I’m particularly excited about is an early work by Mehdi Djellil from his “Little Monsters” series. This body of work has always fascinated me—visually rich, psychologically layered, and hauntingly tender. Works from this early series are incredibly hard to come by today, as they’re no longer in circulation and rarely appear on the secondary market. I already own a singular piece from Little Monsters that Djellil completed over a three-year period between 2013 and 2016. Acquiring a second work from the same series allows me to expand that story—building a deeper understanding of the emotional and formal language he was developing at the time. It feels less like a new acquisition and more like reuniting fragments of a larger narrative.
“Buy what speaks to you, but make sure you can speak about it, too,”
—Ali Mohammadioun
WW: What is your advice for aspiring collectors just getting started?
AM: Buy what speaks to you, but make sure you can speak about it, too. Emotional resonance is essential, but so is education. Take the time to understand the contexts, histories, and practices behind the works that move you. The most meaningful collections are not built around names or trends—they’re shaped by a point of view. Look for works that are not just beautiful, but significant—pieces that carry a sense of urgency, a broader impact, a certain portée. Seek out works that are still writing their own histories, and be intentional about the role your collection plays in shaping and amplifying those narratives.
Sanaz Askari
Curator and Founder of The Mine
Sanaz Askari.
Sanaz Askari is an independent curator based between Dubai and London. She is the founder of The Mine, a curatorial platform dedicated to championing contemporary art from the Middle East through exhibitions, artist advocacy, and strategic collaborations with institutions and collectors. Her practice is rooted in cross-cultural dialogue and in amplifying underrepresented voices—particularly those of women and artists working across diasporic and liminal spaces.
Askari sees collecting as a natural extension of her curatorial thinking—intuitive, research-led, and grounded in long-term engagement. She is particularly drawn to practices that explore language, the body as a politicized and performative site, identity, exile, and transformation beyond geographical and psychological boundaries. This includes a deep interest in artists working with performance, gesture, and embodied archives—where the body becomes a medium of resistance and reflection.
Her recent exhibitions include “Neither Here Nor Elsewhere” (2024) at The Third Line, which brought together artists from Africa and Asia examining displacement and desire; “Echoed Vision” (2024); and “Another Birth” (2023), inspired by the legacy of poet and filmmaker Forough Farrokhzad. In 2016, she also played a key role in “The Sea Suspended,” a landmark exhibition at the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art in partnership with the Barjeel Foundation.
WHITEWALL: Can you share a recent acquisition you’re excited about?
SANAZ ASKARI: I recently acquired the sculpture, Sayehha by Hadieh Shafie from her latest exhibition “Resonant Turns.” The work is part of her continued engagement with repetition as both a visual language and a meditative act—one that resists fixed meanings while layering memory, time, and personal history. In Sayehha, the text is partially concealed, folded into the circular form, gesturing toward censorship and the desire to both reveal and protect meaning. The palette has a childlike, almost tender quality, drawn from formative memories, and the circular composition feels like a time capsule—an intimate attempt to return to a specific moment, feeling or self. her work is also very performative.
There’s a quiet urgency in this work, an emotional intensity that signals a shift in her practice—more fluid, more open. Having followed and worked closely with Hadieh over the years, this piece holds profound personal and conceptual resonance for me. It felt vital to live with a work that encapsulates this turn in her trajectory.
“Don’t worry about what’s trending—focus on what moves you,”
—Sanaz Askari
WW: What is your advice for aspiring collectors, just getting started?
SA: Start with curiosity and instinct. Don’t worry about what’s trending—focus on what moves you. See as much as possible: exhibitions, biennials, artist studios. Talk to artists, curators, and galleries. Building a collection is not just about acquiring—it’s about committing to a dialogue
Nadine Kanso
Designer and Founder of Bil Arabi
Nadine Kanso.
Nadine Kanso is the visionary behind Bil Arabi, a jewelry brand that redefined the region’s design language through a modern, expressive take on Arabic calligraphy. Since launching in 2006, Kanso has pioneered a bold aesthetic rooted in identity, craftsmanship, and personal storytelling—turning letters into powerful symbols worn on the body.
Based in Dubai, Kanso’s work bridges art, design, and cultural heritage, and her influence continues to grow globally. Recent collaborations include limited-edition perfume bottles for Guerlain and a capsule collection with Berluti, blending her creative voice with some of the world’s most iconic luxury houses.
WHITEWALL: Can you share a recent acquisition you’re excited about?
NADINE KANSO: One of my recent acquisitions was a beautiful piece by Hashel Al Lamki, a young Emirati artist who, in my humble opinion, has a brilliant future ahead. The moment I walked into the show, it was love at first sight.
“I buy works because I genuinely connect with them, because I want to live with them,”
—Nadine Kanso
WW: What is your advice for aspiring collectors, just getting started?
NK: I started collecting art a long time ago, back when I didn’t have the budget for major works. It happened gradually — and that experience taught me that collecting has nothing to do with the size or value of the piece. It’s about the love of art. I buy works because I genuinely connect with them, because I want to live with them. They speak to me — visually or emotionally. So my advice to art lovers is: collect with your heart, and if you’re thinking of it as an investment, don’t hesitate to ask for guidance.
Sara Abou Khalil
Curator, Patron, and Founder of Rasam
Sara Abou Khalil.
Sara Abou Khalil is an art collector, patron, advisor and curator known for championing contemporary and emerging artists from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. With over a decade of experience in Private Equity and Investment Banking across Europe, the Middle East, and the United States, she was a key contributor in the execution of several transactions and investments with an aggregate value of over USD5 billion in various industries. More recently, Sara has founded Rasam, a strategic consultancy focused on Arts & Culture.
Her work centers on fostering cross-cultural dialogue and shedding light on underrepresented voices in the art world. Through her involvement in numerous art initiatives and projects, she continues to bridge cultural divides and promote global artistic exchange. Sara often emphasizes the social, political, and cultural narratives of the MENA region. Her efforts have significantly contributed to elevating the presence of artists from this region on the international stage. Alongside her family, she also serves on multiple museum’s acquisition committees including Tate Modern and the Centre Pompidou. She is a patron of several international cultural institutions including the Serpentine and the Guggenheim.
WHITEWALL: What is your advice for aspiring collectors, just getting started?
SARA ABOU KHALIL: Collect with your heart, but get the right tools and advice. Don’t be afraid to ask for guidance, go to as many art shows as you can, the eye is a muscle that you should train.
“Collect with your heart, but get the right tools and advice,”
—Sara Abou Khalil
WW: Can you share a recent acquisition you’re excited about?
SAK: It’s actually two acquisitions, one young Syrian artist called Azza Abu Rebieh, who used tulle and thread on canvas as she couldn’t access paint and a 90-year-old Brazilian artist of Lebanese origin called Habuba Farah who had her first solo exhibition in over three decades in 2023. Both Arab women from completely different generations and backgrounds with very diverging styles who somehow touched me a lot.
