Collector Elie Khouri Plans a Dubai Home for His Art Foundation
Collector Elie Khouri is giving his private art foundation a permanent address in Dubai. The Elie Khouri Art Foundation, known as EKAF, will occupy a villa in Jumeirah 1, an established district of the city, and its space is expected to open in 2028, according to The Art Newspaper.
A private foundation is a non-profit organisation set up and funded by one person or family, often to show and study art. Until now, EKAF has existed without a building of its own. The villa is being renovated and redesigned by Counterspace, a firm led by the architect Sumayya Vally.
The house has a past of its own. It was home to an Emirati family in the 1980s, before it was chosen for the foundation.
EKAF plans to host public exhibitions, along with talks, lectures and educational programmes for visitors of all ages. The aim is to bring people in to look, listen and learn, not just to see objects on a wall.
The first shows will draw on Khouri's personal collection, which includes works by more than 300 artists. Khouri has said he intends to build a separate EKAF collection, so the foundation will not rely only on his own holdings over time. Keeping the two apart matters for how a foundation is run and who owns what.
To lead the project, Khouri has appointed Caroline Louca as director of the foundation. Louca previously worked for the Department of Culture and Tourism in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, and at Christie's Middle East, the regional arm of the London-based auction house.
Khouri is originally from Lebanon and has lived in Dubai since the 1990s. Before turning to art, he was chief executive of Omnicom Media in the Middle East and North Africa, part of a large advertising and media group. He began planning the foundation about five years ago while working as a collector-in-residence with the Deflina Foundation, a London-based organisation that hosts collectors to develop their own projects.
Building a physical space is a big step for any private foundation. It means a lease or ownership, staff, insurance, and a calendar of shows that must open on time. For the people who will visit it, it means a place in Dubai to see art close to home, with the first doors due to open in 2028.
