Art Basel in Hong Kong 2026, March 27

Conversations | Collecting as cultural dialogue: Uli Sigg and Saeb Eigner

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Presented in partnership with Qatar Creates Talks 
Saeb Eigner, Senior Advisor, London   Uli Sigg, Entrepreneur, Art Collector, Former Swiss Ambassador to China, North Korea and Mongolia, Mausensee 
Moderator: Suhanya Raffel, Museum Director, M+, Hong Kong 

In an era when collecting extends far beyond connoisseurship, this conversation examined the collector’s evolving role as a cultural diplomat and bridge between worlds. The session considers how private collections – particularly those rooted in the Middle East and Asia – shape public narratives politically, economically, and symbolically. By viewing collecting as both a personal pursuit and a form of soft power, the discussion explored how individual choices influence institutions and cultural discourse across regions. Ultimately, the panel reflected on the expanding responsibilities and possibilities of collecting within an increasingly interconnected art ecosystem.  
  
Saeb Eigner began his career in international banking and later founded a private investment firm. He served as the chairman of the Dubai Financial Services Authority from 2011 to 2021. Committed to arts and education as tools for cultural connection, he authored Sand to Silicon, Art of the Middle East, and Artists of the Middle East: 1900 to Now, and co-curated the British Museum’s ‘Word into Art’ exhibitions (London 2006 and Dubai 2008) as the museum's senior advisor. He works with artists and cultural institutions internationally to foster dialogue and exchange.  
Uli Sigg’s career has traversed diverse fields: from journalism to industry to diplomacy to venture capital investment to art. Of his extensive initiatives over more than 45 years in China, two are of historic significance: the establishment in 1980 of the first industrial joint venture between the People's Republic of China and the outside world, and the formation of a singular collection of Chinese contemporary art, of which 1,500 works have been repatriated to China as part of the collection of M+ in Hong Kong.   
Suhanya Raffel is the Museum Director of M+ in Hong Kong’s West Kowloon Cultural District. Since her appointment in 2016, she has overseen all museum activities at M+, including acquisitions, programming, collection care, development, research, institutional collaborations, and museum operations. Raffel was the president of CIMAM, the International Committee for Museums and Collections of Modern Art (2023–2025). She was awarded the title of Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government in 2020. 

Stage furniture by Porro and B&B Italia, courtesy of Salone del Mobile.Milano

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