Biography

LONG VERSION

Shumon Basar is a writer, editor and curator. Together with Douglas Coupland and Hans Ulrich Obrist, Basar is author of The Age of Earthquakes: A Guide to the Extreme Present and The Extreme Self. The latter was previewed in a large-scale exhibition curated by Basar/Coupland/Obrist, called Age of You, at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Toronto and Jameel Arts Centre, Dubai. 

Basar studied at Cambridge University, the Architectural Association, and Goldsmiths, University of London. He is also author of Do You Often Confuse Love with Success and with Fame, and his edited books include Vita Nova, Drone Fiction, Translated By, Hans Ulrich Obrist Interviews: Volume 2, The World of Madelon Vriesendorp, Did Someone Say Participate?, With/Without and Cities from Zero.

Since 2010, Basar has been the Commissioner of the Global Art Forum, Art Dubai’s annual transdisciplinary summit. And in 2015, Basar became a founding member of the Fondazione Prada’s “Thought Council,” which advises Miuccia Prada and the Foundation on programming. For Porto Municipality’s Fórum do Futuro, Basar works as part of the curatorial team. And, at the AA School, London, Basar has curated internationally touring exhibitions, and directed a public program called FORMAT: The Shapes of Discourse. Basar has editorial and advisory positions at the magazines Tank, Bidoun, 032c, and Flash Art.

In the survey book 100 Global Minds, author Gianluigi Ricuperati writes, “it is clear to see why [Basar’s] work appeals to those interested in deepening and refining their learning and in bringing together an appreciation of ancient texts, cultural phenomena like modernism and the sciences.” Basar was described in PIN-UP magazine as a “philosophical mastermind.”

 

SHORT VERSION

Shumon Basar is a writer, thinker and curator. He is author of the books The Extreme Self: Age of You (2021) and The Age of Earthquakes: A Guide to the Extreme Present (2015), both with Douglas Coupland and Hans Ulrich Obrist. Together, they co-curated the large-scale exhibition Age of You at MOCA Toronto and Jameel Arts Centre, Dubai. Basar is also Commissioner of the Global Art Forum in Dubai; a member of Fondazione Prada’s “Thought Council;” and has editorial/advisory roles at the magazines TANK, Bidoun, 032c and Flash Art.