Shumon Basar

Shumon Basar is a British writer, editor and curator. Basar attended Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge University as undergraduate between 1993 and 1996. Between 1998 and 2000 he studied at the AA School, London. In 2005 Basar was invited by Eyal Weizman to join a new doctoral program within the Department of Visual Cultures, Goldsmiths, University of London. Since 2009, Basar has lived in Dubai, Vancouver, Berlin, Beirut, Istanbul, and travelled extensively through the Middle East.

Together with Douglas Coupland and Hans Ulrich Obrist, Basar is author of The Age of Earthquakes: A Guide to the Extreme Present and The Extreme Self. The latter was previewed in a large-scale exhibition curated by Basar/Coupland/Obrist, called Age of You, at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Toronto and Jameel Arts Centre, Dubai.

Since 2010, Basar has been the Commissioner of the Global Art Forum, Art Dubai’s annual transdisciplinary summit. And in 2015, Basar became a founding member of the Fondazione Prada’s “Thought Council,” which advises Miuccia Prada and the Foundation on programming. For Porto Municipality’s Fórum do Futuro, Basar works as part of the curatorial team. And, at the AA School, London, Basar has curated internationally touring exhibitions, and directed a public program called FORMAT: The Shapes of Discourse. Basar has editorial and advisory positions at the magazines Tank, Bidoun, 032c, and Flash Art.