Curious about
their work,
not the moment.
Leila Antakly has spent over twenty years in conversation with artists, musicians, designers, filmmakers, and thinkers all over the world who are making work that matters. These are the conversations.
Interviews from the Archive
Explore all our conversations
Building the Platform: Sunny Rahbar and The Third Line's Defense of Middle Eastern Art
In the early 2000s, Dubai's contemporary art scene was not a given. It was a possibility waiting for a catalyst. Sunny Rahbar became that catalyst. She built audience before she built sales. She hosted film screenings and talks and club nights before she went to Frieze. She defended artists who had no gallery representation and watched them grow into artists shown in every significant Western institution. An Arabic name on a Western gallery's roster is no longer unusual. She is one of the reasons why.
T L - 1 8 0 INTERVIEW
They met at Luisa's 18th birthday party at Villa Medici in Rome. What sealed the friendship wasn't fashion — it was a broken fridge with an almost identical sign in both their kitchens. From that moment, everything followed: evenings painting and drawing near Piazza di Spagna, a first pochette folded and hand-sewn by candlelight, a move to Paris, and TL-180.
“Visibility has never been our measure of significance. We seek out artists and inspiring individuals whose work sparks curiosity, challenges assumptions, and leaves a lasting impression.”