Iranian collector opens art museum in Dubai

TEHRAN,Dec.19(MNA) -- Dubai-based Iranian art collector Ramin Salsali opened his privately-owned museum of contemporary art in Al Quoz, Dubai, in which artworks by Iranian, Middle Eastern and European artists are put on display. Salsali Private Museum (SPM) is the first private museum for contemporary art in the region in which Salsali’s collection of over 400 items of painting, photography, video art, sculpture and installation are put on show, the museum website says. The museum opened its doors on November, 13, 2011 and works by Reza Derakhshani, Farideh Lashaii, Ramin and Rokni Haerizadeh, Hesam Rahmanian, Amir-Hossein Zanjani, and Halim Al Karim are among the displayed collection. Salsali hopes that his project inspires new collectors to expand their collection, while the established collectors start to open up to the idea of sharing their collections with the public. His goal is to share his passion for art. The lack of knowledge about Middle Eastern art world among visitors was one of the factors that made Salsali decide to found this museum. “I came to a point where I had to decide what I should do with my collection,” he states on the museum website. “Should I keep it for myself or show it to a wider range of people? And then the issue was that I wanted to show it, but there wasn’t enough space for me to show it.” Salsali’s mission is to contribute to the development of the art collection culture, encouraging people to become new collectors as well as to motivate collectors to share their collection, passion and knowledge with a broader audience. Born in Tehran in 1964, Salsali studied economics, strategic management and marketing with a focus on Industry Design, in Germany and England. He graduated in 1993 from the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich. He started his collection at the age of 21 and has been developing it ever since.