The Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar (VCU-Q), in association with the Qatar Museums Authority, will present  internationally renowned writer, critic and curator Francesco Bonami in conversation with cultural entrepreneur and art collector Tariq al-Jaidah at the atrium at VCU-Q tomorrow.
The conversation coincides with the Damien Hirst exhibition Relics at the Al Riwaq Doha exhibition space curated by Bonami, and will focus on issues relating to contemporary art and the region.
Bonami was born in Florence where he received a master’s degree at the Academy of Fine Arts in stage design. He was the director of the 50th Venice Biennale in 2003 and curated the 2010 Whitney Biennial.
He worked as Manilow senior curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, where he curated among many group shows a retrospective of Jeff Koons in 2008 and a Rudolf Stingel survey in 2007. He was honoured in 2012 with the Legion of Honour of the French Republic.
Tariq al-Jaidah is a patron, collector of contemporary art, and cultural entrepreneur based in Qatar. He is the founder and managing director of Al Jaidah Brothers and a pioneer in the international communications and marketing sector in Qatar.
As founder and managing director of Katara Art Centre, an independently-run collaborative art and design centre, his vision is to develop and drive a thriving and productive art scene in Doha.