Sultan Sooud Al-Qassemi
Founder of Barjeel Art Foundation
Founder and Chairman of Barjeel Geojit Securities
MIT Media Lab Director's Fellow
Member of Global Commission on Internet Governance
Al-Qassemi is an influential commentator on Arab affairs, and is known for his use of social media—Twitter in particular.[5][6] He has been described by numerous media outlets as a prominent voice during the events of the Arab Spring.[7][8]
In 2010, he founded the Barjeel Art Foundation, an organization dedicated to art of North Africa and West Asia based in Sharjah.[9][10] Al-Qassemi is increasingly regarded as an authority on modern and contemporary art in the region.[11]
In February 2014 Al-Qassemi joined the Global Commission on Internet Governance[12] and in the summer of 2014 became an MIT Media Lab Director's Fellow.[13] He has completed a number of academic fellowships and residencies, including at Yale as a World Fellow,[14] at the Kennedy School's Belfer Center[15] at Harvard University,[16] and others. He has also offered courses on the Politics of Modern Middle Eastern Art as a visiting scholar at universities including NYU,[17] Boston College,[18] Brandeis University, Sciences Po, and Columbia University.[19]
The Gottlieb Duttweiler Institut's Global Influence list of Arabic thought leaders ranked Al-Qassemi number 19 in 2018.[20] Al-Qassemi is also the Chairman of Barjeel Geojit Securities, a joint-venture that was formed with Geojit Financial Services of India.[21]
Barjeel Geojit[edit]
Barjeel Geojit was formed as a joint venture between Al-Qassemi and Geojit Financial Services of India in the year 2000. The company is an eight time consecutive winner of Best Performing Financial Advisor in NRI Category at the CNBC-TV18 Financial Advisor Awards.[23][24][25] Al-Qassemi was also featured in the World Economic Forum's list of Young Global Leaders in 2011 as the Chairman of Barjeel Geojit Securities.[26]
Articles[edit]
Al-Qassemi's articles have appeared in publications including Foreign Policy, The Guardian, The Independent and CNN. He sparked a debate[27] in the UAE following an article[28] in which he recommended that certain expatriates be granted UAE citizenship. In 2013 Sultan Al Qassemi was criticised[29] for suggesting in an article[30] that continuous civil unrest in parts of the Arab world is leading to the emergence of Persian Gulf cities as cultural and commercial centres of the region.
Al-Qassemi has written about media in the Arab world,[31] the Jewish presence in Middle East,[32] British journalists coverage[33] of Dubai and atheism[34] in the Persian Gulf among other topics. He has also written articles on modern art and aspects of popular culture in West Asia and North Africa.[35] An archive of his articles and interviews appears here.[36]
