Venice: Sheikh Al-Mayassa meets Brugnaro, together for culture
Venice - Sheikha Al-Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, sister of the Emir of Qatar, has also arrived in Venice for the film festival. She is known throughout the world as the 'Queen of Art'. The 34-year-old is, in fact, the director of the Qatar Museums Authority and has been working and expending for years to develop the art and culture sector. Doha aims to become an international hub in this field, and Al-Mayassa does not skimp on seopending. She has, according to Bloomberg, a billion dollars a year available for the acquisition of important works of art. Over time she was able to purchase, for dizzying figures, paintings by Paul Gauguin, Paul Cezanne and Andy Warhol, among others, along with works by Damien Hirst and Francis Bacon. In 2013, the ArtReview magazine placed her on the podium of Power 100, the annual ranking of the most influential people in the World Artsystem. Already in Venice, the Sheikh met with the mayor, Luigi Brugnaro, with whom he talked about "joint cultural cooperation".
This was reported by Al-Mayassa with a tweet. As highlighted by the first citizen's staff, who is always on Twitter - "culture and development of the city" was discussed in the meeting. This emphasis does not seem casual, given that Brugnaro has indicated the Lido, Murano and Porto Marghera as the three excellences of Venice to relaunch with private investment more than once. And in investment, Qatar - with one of the richest sovereign wealth funds in the world - has invested profusively, mainly in the areas of luxury, fashion and tourism, from Harrods London warehouses to Louis Vitton, Tiffany, Porche, to Volkswagen, Rosneft, Shell, Credit Suisse and Barclays, as well as the acquisition of the Paris Saint Germain football team. In Italy, Doha has invested in Milan with the Porta Nuova real estate project. It owns the Hotel Gallia, along with the Four Season in Florence, Baglioni and Excelsior in Rome, along with some prestigious buildings, without counting luxury hotels along the Costa Smeralda built by Aga Khan and then transferred to Starwood.