What sets the next generation of collectors apart from their forebears? In this panel discussion, young leaders in the arts consider how the practice of collecting is evolving in a swiftly changing world. Whether they are underwriting social development through investment in the creative economy or supporting emerging artists beyond the boundaries of the gallery system, next-gen collectors often focus on sustaining artistic practices and nourishing the cultural ecosystems –– and local communities –– in which artists flourish. For those who are unable to collect, raising awareness of a favourite artist or promoting interest in a particular discipline can serve similar ends. What are the implications of these shifts, and do they herald a new understanding of collecting as sustained support rather than serial acquisition?
 
Dana Farouki (Curator and Patron)
Christina Makris (collector)
Nish McCree (Art Patron and the Founder of The COWRIE culture)
Georgia Powell (Co-Founder & Director, CURA Art)
Moderator: Michael Diaz-Griffith (Executive Director at Sir John Soane's Museum Foundation)

Michael Diaz-Griffith is Executive Director of Sir John Soane's Museum Foundation, the New York-based foundation that supports the Soane Museum in London. Previously, he was Associate Executive Director of The Winter Show and a consultant on strategy and innovation for fairs, auction houses, galleries, and museums. A co-chair of the Masterpiece Collectors Club, he was recently named to House Beautiful's list of "Visionaries" for his advocacy of antiques, historic art, and preservation, and his work on anti-racist preservation has been featured by Artnet, Veranda, and CNN, and taught in universities across the United States. In Fall 2021, he debuts a video series with The Magazine Antiques that makes topics in the fine and decorative arts accessible for digital audiences. Michael is writing a book on young collectors to be published in Fall 2022 by The Monacelli Press/Phaidon.

Dana Farouki is a curator and patron, specializing in Middle East contemporary art. Farouki was the first member of the Guggenheim Museum Abu Dhabi curatorial staff, serving as Assistant Curator until June 2010.  She is currently a Trustee of MoMA PS1, the leading New York museum committed to emerging art and artists. Farouki also serves on the Board of Trustees for Creative Time, New York’s foremost public arts projects organization. She is the founding Chair of The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation’s Middle East Circle and sits on the board of Bidoun Projects. A great advocate of Middle East cultural initiatives, she oversaw an ambitious commissioning based prize in collaboration with Art Dubai until 2018.

Christina Makris is currently Head of Client Development at Kernow Asset Management and also advises an American family office on investment strategy and philanthropy. With a doctorate in philosophy, she has been involved in the arts as a collector, philanthropist and trustee for over a decade. She has recently written a book on art collections in restaurants, Aesthetic Dining: The Art Restaurant Around the World, which will be published in July 2021.

Nish McCree (she/her) is an Art Patron and the Founder of The COWRIE culture, an advisory that aims to contribute to the expansion and sustainability of the Contemporary Art ecosystem across Africa. The COWRIE Culture offers services in art advisory, curatorial practice and mentorship. Given her 13 years of experience in international development in African countries and her confidence in the potential of the creative economy, Nish strongly believes that an investment in the Contemporary Art ecosystem in African countries will encourage entrepreneurship and contribute to social development and economic growth. In her local art community, Nish is a trusted mentor to emerging artists and a thought leader among her peers. Her advocacy for Contemporary Art made in Africa and by the African Diaspora has been highlighted in LARRY’s List, Polo Lifestyle Magazine and at the Art X Lagos 2020 art fair. Nish is a member of the African Diaspora, born in Alabama. She lives in Accra, Ghana. 

Georgia Powell founded CURA Art with her business partner, Liza Shapiro, in order to support and encourage those that collect and display works of art. Based in London and Los Angeles, CURA Art provides services and expertise to ensure that works of art and other precious objects are preserved, managed, and displayed to the highest standards. With training in conservation, museum studies, art history and curation, their focus is advising collectors with the management and care of their collections, as well as with their philanthropy and patronage.  Georgia specialises in the professional management, research and display of collections. Previously, Georgia gained experience at the V&A, has worked as an exhibition designer, as manager of a prestigious Cork Street gallery, and as curator of a noted collection.