Basel Jbaily - Content Professional & Linguist

I hold a Master’s degree in translation, as well as a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature. From 2011 to 2021, I worked full-time in the Middle East in the domain of translation and content for museums and exhibitions, as well as freelancing for cultural projects worldwide.

The institutions for whom I worked on projects with include Qatar National Museum, The Orientalist Museum (Qatar), The Museum of Islamic Art (Qatar), Oman Across Ages Museum (Oman), The Congress Visitor Centre (USA), The MET (UAS) and The Smithsonian audio-guides, Dubai Expo 2020, Guggenheim’s Arabic podcast, Encyclopaedia of Modern Art and the Arab World, King Salman Science Oasis, and FIFA.

I have fully translated many publications including Essentials of Comparative Politics, Picasso – Giacometti, Cultural Orientalism and Mentality.

I have also translated a wealth of exhibition specific content including Driven by German Design, Dia Al-Azzawi: A Retrospective, Artist in Residence, Contemporary Art from China, Luc Tuymans: Intolerance, Heritage of Art Diplomacy, Dior: Designer of Dreams.

 

In 2021, I enrolled at IESA to gain an MBA in Arts and Cultural Management. My thesis was entitled The Business of Restitution: How Western Universal Museums Navigate the Post-Colonial World and the Ownership of Unethically Obtained Art. My graduation project was Person«ELLES» Manifestos, an exhibition that explored concepts of identities and activism, channelled into art that is candid, honest, and provocative. 

Following graduation, I established my own Translation and Arts Management business in Paris, freelancing extensively for institutions and projects across France, and worldwide. As well as my long experience in language and translation, I am also able to offer my skills of Curation and Cultural Advisory (especially in an Arabic & Middle Eastern context) as well as developing glossaries and style-guides for arts and cultural institutions including museums. 

Starting in 2022 and continuing, I represent a number of Arab artists. In particular I work closely with the Syrian-French Artist Fares Cachoux and have to do date curated two of his exhibitions; Eye to Eye, a travelling exhibition, first held at Jacques Leegenhoek gallery in Paris 7th arrondissement, and the retrospective, Fares Cachoux: Figures Contemporaines, hosted by the Institut du Monde Arabe, 2024. 

In addition to my ongoing collaboration with FIFA, my current projects include content development for the Kuwait Pavilion in World Expo 2025, Osaka, and working on the content for The National Museum of Dubai, Islamic Art Biennale in Jeddah. I am also involved in several initiatives dedicated to the promotion of Syrian and Arab modern and contemporary art, mainly with Atassi Foundation for Arts and Culture, and their multiple projects to preserve modern and contemporary art and archives from Syria; foster critical thinking and research through knowledge production; advance the Syrian artistic scene through capacity building; and create a bridge between the past and the future of art production.

Discover more about our programs and their outcomes here.