Art Review’s Power 100 list always gets people talking, and this year will be no exception—with a run-down emphasising the influential work being done by art world figures in the Gulf. Hoor Al Qasimi, the founding director of the Sharjah Art Foundation, has taken the top spot, a statement crediting her organisation’s work “foregrounding artists and cultural organisations from the Global Majority and shifting the focus away from Western-centric narratives.”
Al Qasimi, the daughter of the Emir of Sharjah, is taking her talents to an increasingly global audience: she will curate the Aichi Triennale 2025 in Japan in 2025, and the Biennale of Sydney in 2026. Yet she remains deeply committed to her home city’s art scene, telling The Art Newspaper this year: “When I took over the Sharjah Biennial [which she has directed since 2003], I said for me it's not about tourism, it's not about international visitors, it's about the local visitors.”
She is not the only royal name on the list. The mega collector Sheikha Al-Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, also the chairperson of Qatar Museums and sister of the ruling emir of Qatar, is at number 21, while Prince Badr bin Abdullah Al Saud, Saudi Arabia’s minister of culture, takes 41st place.
Other art worlders making the chart include the British artist John Akomfrah (10), the Palestine-born curator Reem Fadda (56)—who has served as the director of the Abu Dhabi Cultural Foundation since 2019—and the Thai artist Rirkrit Tiravanija (2), known for his works involving audience engagement.