Issue 14-4

This issue is about the architecture of the art world, its bricks, mortar and scaffolding, and about the people who help design and create the structures that keep it all standing. We speak to key figures from leading art organisations and private museums that support and showcase art from the Middle East and beyond. We visit Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain’s landmark show A Beautiful Elsewhere – an example of corporate involvement in art done well – with one of its works Draw me a Flag on our cover. In addition, Saudi artist Ahmed Mater contributes a piece on the dramatic development of the Saudi art scene and in Venice we visit the architecture biennale and check out the arab pavilions. We travel further to the latest by the Guggenheim UBS MAP Global initiative, curated by Sara Raza, and an extensive survey of Iranian art, past and present, at LACMA. Enjoy this summer issue: a Canvas-curated map that gives you a bird’s-eye view of how all the different parts of the global art edifice fit together, and of who provides the oil to keep the wheels turning.