Selim Bouafsoun has been amassing his eclectic collection of contemporary art for nearly ten years. The London-based financier—who was born in Tunisia and grew up in Saudi Arabia—began with a focus on geometrical abstraction, inspired by the Islamic art that he was surrounded by in his youth. Today, his holdings have expanded into several “pillars”, including a strand of socially engaged works exploring power structures, such as gender, race, patriarchy, colonialism and more.
Bouafsoun was a co-founder of the charity Nafas Tunis, which raised money for Tunisian hospitals during the Covid-19 pandemic. Alongside his collaborations with the London-based Gasworks arts organisation, he also supports the Delfina Foundation and Chisenhale Gallery.
Alia Ahmad’s Albustaan 5 (2024), a recent purchase by Bouafsoun. Ahmad is represented by the Dubai-based Lawrie Shabibi gallery, which is showing at Frieze Masters
Photography by Musthafa Aboobacker; Seeing Things; © courtesy of the artist and Lawrie Shabibi
The Art Newspaper: How did your journey into collecting begin?
Selim Bouafsoun: After I bought my first flat, a collector, who was kind of a mentor to me, came over and said, “Very nice, but your walls are empty.” Later, we ended up at [the art fair] Vienna Contemporary, which was my first acquaintance with art professionals, including the team at Dubai’s Carbon 12 gallery. I flew back to Dubai, where I was based, and a person from the gallery was like, “OK, I’m going to suggest works to you and we’re going to keep within a reasonable budget.”
Are there particular types of gallery that you are drawn to?
If you ask me which galleries I’m the closest to in London, it would be Carlos/Ishikawa, for example. It’s galleries that are of my generation. It’s also good to promote the younger galleries; I believe in giving back and helping people get on the wheel.
You have been a patron of several organisations and supported important causes. How has this developed in recent years?
I am affiliated or close with what I call the “holy trinity”, which is Delfina, Gasworks and Chisenhale. But the question that comes at the end of the day is: what do you expect out of all these patronages? Over the past year, I noticed that people are helping their people. And I started reflecting and saying, ‘I’m from Tunisia, I’m from North Africa.’ And I realised that there’s very little patronage work being done. So I’ve partnered with Gasworks to start working on a North Africa residency, which will involve artists based in Tunisia, Libya, Algeria and Morocco. I have just organised a research trip to Tunisia [with help from Selma Feriani Gallery], with people from Gasworks, Chisenhale, Ikon Gallery, Triangle Network and Tate.
Selim Bouafsoun recently added Sarah Al Mehairi’s painting Off Centered Bot (2024) to his collection
© Sarah Al Mehairi
My patronage or support work began with the charity, Nafas Tunis—Nafas means to breathe in Arabic. Initially it was an initiative that I did during Covid, selling artworks and buying oxygen concentrators and things like that. It worked well, and I kept the name which I hope later on will be the name of a foundation.
What was the last work you bought?
I have this problem where I buy a lot: I’ve bought 17 artworks this year so far. Last week I bought this artist called Alia Ahmad, from Saudi Arabia. It was from this gallery called Lawrie Shabibi in Dubai, which is going to be present at Frieze Masters. I also recently purchased a work by the Chilean artist Johanna Unzueta. And I was in Tunisia three weeks ago, so I bought work by some Tunisian artists such as Nidhal Chamekh.
Are you looking out for anything in particular at Frieze this year?
I go to Frieze every year, and arrive at 11 o’clock, which is important because the good works sell out quickly. There are a few booths that I think are going to be interesting—such as Selma Feriani Gallery’s display of work by Massinissa Selmani, and Savannah Harris at Harlesden High Street—but I always go with the intention of just discovering new artists because that’s what I think art fairs are good for.
What else would you recommend doing or seeing in London during the fair?
I love going to east London. I am excited for Antonio Tarsis’s solo show at Carlos/Ishikawa. Cork Street and the whole area has become really nice: Tiwani Contemporary has a beautiful show of Emma Prempeh, which I look forward to seeing. You have to walk around Fitzrovia, and I would also try to venture into other parts of London, too. Go to see Palmer Gallery in Lisson Grove—they put on good shows.