For Shumon Basar, the art world isn’t just a place — it’s a practice. “I always like to turn nouns into verbs. ‘Art world’ isn’t a static concept. It’s something you do.” That spirit animates How to Art World, the programme he curated for Riyadh’s Art Week.
In Conversation with Shumon Basar
From the outset, accessibility stood at the heart of the project. When Dina Amin, CEO of the Visual Arts Commission, invited him to curate, she made it clear: “People need tools.” Not just inspiration, but real knowledge — concrete, foundational, often overlooked. “What does a gallery do? What makes an auction house tick? How does one even enter this world?” Shumon Basar responded with a series of “how to” sessions designed to demystify the industry, open doors, and ensure no one feels like an outsider. He brought together some of the most respected names in the art world — gallerists, curators, auctioneers — with one goal in mind: spark something.
The kind of spark that nudges a 20-year-old in the audience to start a gallery in two years’ time. Or one that shifts how someone thinks about value, creation, and care. That word — care — sits at the centre of it all. “Why do people choose complexity over ease? Why build an art space in a difficult context or launch a programme from scratch?” Because they care deeply. Because they believe in building something that lasts.
The talks are just one part of a wider movement. With over 100 activations across the city — from powerhouse workshops by Christie’s, Sotheby’s, and Gagosian to independent pop-ups — the entire week becomes an ecosystem in motion. It’s not about one-off moments. It’s about shaping a future. Beneath the programming, a deeper question pulses: “What do we mean when we talk about value?” Not just market value, but symbolic, emotional, historical value. “Why does art matter? Why do artists create? What are the values that guide us — here in Saudi Arabia, across the region, and around the world?” Shumon Basar thrives in this intersection of the local and the global. He’s spent two decades working across the Gulf — Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha — and brings that long view to Riyadh. Every place has its own rhythm. Saudi Arabia moves fast. “This entire project started in January. By March, it was live. Vision 2030, Expo, the World Cup — momentum is everywhere, and the urgency is real.” But speed doesn’t mean skipping reflection. This isn’t an art fair or a biennial. It’s something else, something in between, something still taking shape. There’s risk in that — but there’s also freedom. “Risk opens the door to experimentation. And without experimentation, there’s no growth.”
That freedom resonates. One gallerist told him, “I wish every art fair was like this.” Instead of competition, people felt connected. Instead of silos, dialogue. That’s the dream. To see artists, galleries, and institutions come together not just as participants, but as co-creators of something bigger.
This is the art world in action. Not a scene, but a movement. Not a noun, but a verb.
About Shumon Basar
Shumon Basar is a writer, thinker and curator with two decades’ experience working in the Gulf. He is co-author of The Extreme Self and The Age of Earthquakes, both with Douglas Coupland and Hans Ulrich Obrist, and his books on the region include With/Without and Cities from Zero. Other roles have included long-term Commissioner of Art Dubai’s Global Art Forum; founding member of Fondazione Prada’s ‘Thought Council’; Expert Advisory Group for the Royal Commission of AlUla; Chief Narrative Officer and co-founder at web3 startup Zien; Public Programs Director at the Architectural Association; and he is currently helping to establish a new cultural platform in London with the Kamel Lazaar Foundation. Shumon has held editorial positions at the magazines TANK, Bidoun, 032c, Flash Art, and as Curator-in-residence at Zora Zine, produced a trilogy of pieces around his viral neologism, ‘Lorecore.’