Museum Acquisitions #55

The biggest art collectors are also the archiving institutions of the world: museums. However, while museums own a large part of the art that exists, audiences don’t get to see the majority of it as it is kept in storage. Yet, despite this, museums continue to acquire new works, begging the question of what drives this momentum.

For this issue, we delve into this topic and ask museums to reveal what they have been acquiring lately and how this relates to or influences their current narrative. We take you on a virtual trip to a number of museums around the world and speak with their curators, who take us through their most recent acquisitions, the process that goes into communicating these works to audiences, and how these latest works relate to their current collections.

Art historian and curator Dr Venetia Porter, who recently co-authored a book on Contemporary art in the Middle East and North Africa, with a focus on works on paper, joins us to discuss the book and the accompanying exhibition. Dr Souraya Noujaim, whose extensive career has included roles at international museums such as the Musée du Louvre, the British Museum and currently the Louvre Abu Dhabi, takes us through the journey of the Louvre Abu Dhabi’s acquisitions and temporary loans. Art historian and curator Mina Moraitou of the Benaki Museum in Athens shares with us a fascinating glimpse into the museum’s history and its vision for the Benaki Museum of Islamic Art.

We also welcome back Dr Abdellah Karroum, director of Qatar’s Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, who gives us a museum tour as well as our Curated By section in which he shares with us his choice of art that has made an impact and caught his eye. We hope you enjoy this issue’s journey around the world, bringing museums and their art closer to you.

Anastasia Nysten,
Editor-in-Chief