My research currently focuses on exploring the contradictions within art institutions and envisioning alternative ways to interpret the contemporary cultural system. I am particularly drawn to the Middle East, where Gulf countries—especially the UAE and Qatar—are reshaping the global art market(s).
I also examine the broader MENASA region (Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia), a context in which cultural production is invested with particularly strong expectations. In the last decade, the Middle East has attracted increasing attention from international curators, a shift shaped both by geopolitical developments following 9/11, and by several landmark curatorial projects. More recently, the multiplication of exhibitions, biennials, art fairs, and influential platforms such as Documenta has consolidated the UAE as a strategic node within the global art infrastructure. This rapid institutional and infrastructural expansion is actively recalibrating the global equilibrium of the art world. For this reason, it warrants sustained critical observation, particularly with regard to the cultural policies and curatorial strategies through which art is articulated in relation to heritage.
I question fundamental issues: who is the art system addressing, and what impact does it have on its audience? And, above all, what roles do artists and curators assume in this context? This phenomenon, understood also as a cultural, intellectual, and technological process, concerns not only “classic” migrants but any individual or group that challenges their own belonging in order to grow and evolve. Migration is an existential condition that traverses and shapes human dynamics, representing a symbol of transformation. In this sense, migration is far more than a human experience: it is a principle that drives change and can teach us to coexist with complexity and diversity.
Alongside this regional focus, I am deeply interested in magazines, editing, publishing, and curatorial practice. This has led me to actively contribute to numerous projects throughout my academic career, combining research, critical reflection, and hands-on engagement in the art world(s).