ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the ways in which the formation of the Khalid Shoman Private Collection is intimately bound up with the artistic histories of Darat al Funun and Suha Shoman. It presents a Darat al Funun's history and outlines its activities and regional role in developing an infrastructure in the private sector for the visual arts. The chapter discusses the stakes of the formative dialectic of the Collection between regional history and individual initiatives within a region that is currently experiencing a heightened interest on the part of the market, curatorial community, and the academy. Aly filmed the video at Darat al Funun, in a building from the 1940s that had yet to be restored to its current home as the headquarters of the Khalid Shoman Foundation. The Khalid Shoman Private Collection acquired the painting by the renowned Lebanese artist Paul Guiragossian from the artist.
