Alia Al-Senussi is a globally renowned member of the contemporary art world with a focus on cultural strategy and patronage systems. She is an active cultural strategist, writer, patron, public speaker, and academic recognized for her deep knowledge of the global art world and its systems and members. Al-Senussi has spent her entire career in the global art world.

Al-Senussi has served as Art Basel’s United Kingdom and Middle East and North Africa representative for over a decade and is also senior advisor, international outreach, for Art Basel. In 2019, she was appointed senior advisor to the Ministry of Culture, Saudi Arabia, where she focuses on developing international partnerships while working on a variety of projects across the ministry’s commissions and the Diriyah Biennale Foundation. Al-Senussi is a visiting lecturer at Brown University’s Watson Institute, working primarily with the Middle East Studies Program.

Al-Senussi is the founding chairperson of the K11 International Council and a member of the
Tate Modern Advisory Council (London), board of trustees of the ICA London, strategic advisory panel of the Delfina Foundation (London), board of trustees of The Showroom (London), board of trustees of FUNTASIA/Elisa Sednaoui Foundation (UK/ Egypt/Italy), board of governors of Aiglon College (Switzerland), Therme advisory board (Germany), and UCCA Contemporary Circle (China). Al-Senussi was recently appointed founding global co-chair of the LACMA ambassadors board. She continues to serve as a founding member of the Tate’s acquisitions committee for the Middle East and North Africa and is a member of the board of 1-54, The African Art Fair, Middle East Circle of the Guggenheim, and Middle East Studies Advisory Committee at Brown University. She is a founding member and founding committee member of the Serpentine Future Contemporaries and was a founding member of the board of patrons of Art Dubai, having played an integral role in the founding of the fair. She is also a member of the British Museum committee for the acquisition of Middle Eastern art.

Al-Senussi has a PhD in politics from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, where she examined the nexus of power and cultural  patronage, featuring Saudi Arabia as a case study. She graduated magna cum laude in international relations and Middle East studies from Brown University and holds an MA in political science from Brown and an MSc in law, anthropology, and society from the London School of Economics.