Assaad W. Razzouk is a Lebanese-British investor, clean energy entrepreneur, commentator and art gallery owner. Assaad is Group Chief Executive and Co-Founder of Sindicatum Sustainable Resources, a global sustainable resources company headquartered in Singapore; founder of Singapore and South East Asia’s first Middle Eastern contemporary art gallery, Sana Gallery; and an Advisory Board member of ASrIA, the Association for Sustainable and Responsible Investment in Asia. His commentary is published by the Middle East Institute, London’s Independent newspaper, The Ecologist, Corporate Knights, Eco-Business and others. He is a graduate of Syracuse University (Summa Cum Laude) and holds an MBA from Columbia Business School.
An Artistic Dialogue Shows the Absence of Cultural Exports from the Arab World
The exceptionalism of Thaer Maarouf and Jason Tecson is that they reached over a cultural desert to talk to each other and to serve as catalysts of multi-contextual significance—emphasizing that beyond conflicts, it is traditions, culture, and history that define people today. The Arab world would do well to learn from their exchange. Exporting the distinguished culture of the Middle East is critical in any effort to counter the barbaric images of the region currently shaping Asia’s view of Arabs.
Art Dubai, Abu Dhabi Art, and the Sharjah Biennale: The Emergence of a Global Art Hub
While visiting Dubai, Sharjah, and Abu Dhabi frequently over the past 20 years, I couldn’t fail to notice that the three cities have increasingly, inexorably become a metropolitan area, ever merging as they build and develop in each other’s direction.
The Songkok and Raouf Rifai’s Darwiche: A Cultural Dialogue Between the Middle East and Southeast Asia
Raouf Rifai, a doyen of Lebanese and Arab painters, introduced the Darwiche as the point of departure for his art in 2008. Rifai’s Darwiche is a folk character created by the artist and representing the common man (“darwiche” in Arabic means a simple and simple-minded person). Rifai’s common man also encompasses ― through the name the artist chose ― the dervish, or Sufi mystic, thus imbuing a spiritual and physical duality to the character.
Razzouk discusses the notable lack of cultural exports from the Middle East towards Southeast Asia, and the role of the Sana Gallery in promoting art from the region in Singapore.
