ArtReview has released its annual “Power 100” list for 2024, with the Sharjah Art Foundation’s founding director Hoor Al Qasimi taking top spot among many other cultural figures from around the world.
Al Qasimi has enjoyed an impressive jump in ranking since last year, when she came 36th. The daughter of Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, ruler of the Emirate of Sharjah, has been using her inherited powers to help put Middle Eastern artists on the global stage since 2003, when she took over and rebooted the once marginal Sharjah Biennial. It’s 16th edition opens on February 6, 2025.
In recent years, Al Qasimi’s influence has grown beyond her regional hub. In 2020, she curated the second edition of the Lahore Biennale and currently she is artistic director of both the Aichi Triennale in Japan, taking place next year, and the 2026 Biennale of Sydney.
The ArtReview panel, composed of 40 anonymous art professionals, picks listed names according to recent activity and importance within the art world globally. This year, the group stated its intention to honor the growing cultural prominence of the Gulf states by ranking Sheikha Al-Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa, chairperson of Qatar Museums, at 21 and Saudi Arabia’s minister of culture, Prince Badr bin Abdullah Al Saud, at 41.
Last year’s most powerful figure, Nan Goldin, has slipped to 7th place, despite delivering a rousing, if controversial, speech at the opening of her exhibition at Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin last month. Expressing solidarity with Palestine and Lebanon and decrying a growing trend of censorship in Germany’s cultural sphere, her words spread rapidly across the globe.
Forensic Architecture. Photo: Natalia Sliwinska.
As always, plenty of prominent contemporary artists claimed top spots including Rirkrit Tiravanija (2), Steve McQueen (4), Kerry James Marshall (8), Carrie Mae Weems (11), Cao Fei (13), Ibrahim Mahama (14), and Nicole Eisenman (15). The research and art collective Forensic Architecture, which has been releasing its independent investigations into Israel’s conduct in Gaza since October 2023, ranks at a very high number five.
Meanwhile, artists Hito Steyerl, Simone Leigh, Isaac Julien, Theaster Gates, and Cao Fei all fell off of the top ten, which they filled last year. Leigh has dropped off the list entirely and Wolfgang Tillmans has once again failed to make a comeback after ranking 6th in 2022.
Standout artists from this year’s Venice Biennale also claimed top spots on the list. Wael Shawky came in at number 6 while John Akomfrah clocked in at number 10. Curiously, Archie Moore, the winner of the Golden Lion at this year’s 60th Venice Biennale, only just made it on to the tail end of the list, claiming the 98th spot.
Wael Shawky. © Wael Shawky. Courtesy Sfeir.
Having just been named artistic director the the 61st Venice Biennale in 2026, it is no surprise to see curator Koyo Kouoh ranking high in 16th place. Adriano Pedrosa, curator of the recently closed 60th edition, is apparently already losing his power. He comes 33rd in the rankings, down from the 15th position last year.
Other curators to enjoy solid spots on the list include Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung (20), Suhanya Raffel and Doryun Chong (30), Bose Krishnamachari (52), and Natasha Ginwala (54). Hans Ulrich Obrist has been steadily dropping down the list in recent years, from 34th position in 2022 to 49th last year and, in 2024, just 59th. He has been included annually on the roster since 2002, so some may say this small slide is slightly overdue.
Several scholars, philosophers, and writers managed to bag high spots in this year’s power list. Among the most highly rated are Saidiya Hartman (3), Anna Kornbluh (9), and Anna L. Tsing (25), who all had new books out this year. Historian Achille Mbembe ranked 12th and Power 100 regular Fred Moten came 27th, a small rise on 30th place last year.
Though institutions and academics usually set the cultural agenda, money makes the art world go round. As such, the directors of blue-chip galleries always make ArtReview‘s list. This year Hauser and Wirth’s founders Iwan and Manuela Wirth along with president Marc Payot jointly came in at 28th, collectively beating Larry Gagosian, who fell to the 35th spot from 12th last year. David Zwirner, Emmanuel Perrotin, and Monika Sprüth and Philomene Magers all fell between 38 and 49.