Why Middle Eastern modern art was set to take centre stage at the British Museum
telegraph.co.ukBritish Museum was due to open an exhibition next week celebrating its collection of modern and contemporary art from the Middle East and North Africa: some 700 examples by more than 300 artists, nearly all acquired in the last 10 years.
Considering there has been no budget for acquisitions from the museum's central funds, this is a remarkable feat.The mastermind behind it is the British Museum's curator Venetia Porter, who has harnessed her interest in art from the region with an ability to access the cash needed to buy it.Porter was born in Beirut, the daughter of the British Embassy economist Bob Porter and his wife, Thea Porter, whose "hippie chic" designs introduced a Middle Eastern flavour to the fashions favoured by London socialites.
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