Amin Jaffer
THE AL THANI COLLECTION - DIRECTOR
Dr. Amin Jaffer is Director of The Al Thani Collection, an encyclopedic holding of more than 5,000 works of art spanning millenia, representing the vision of His Highness Sheikh Hamad bin Abdullah Al Thani. Previously Senior Curator at the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A), London, and International Director of Asian Art at Christie’s, Jaffer has authored and edited a number of works including Furniture from British India and Ceylon (V&A, 2001), Luxury Goods: the art of the Indian cabinet-maker (2002) and Made for Maharajas: A Design Diary of Princely India (2006).
Jaffer was co-curator of the V&A’s blockbuster exhibition Encounters: The Meeting of Asia and Europe, 1500–1800 (2004) and Maharaja: The Splendour of India’s Royal Courts (2009) and was co-editor of the associated books. He edited Beyond Extravagance: A Royal Collection of Gems and Jewels (2013, second edition 2019) and co-curated the exhibition From the Great Mughals to the Maharajas: Jewels from the Al Thani Collection at the Grand Palais, Paris, and the Palazzo Ducale, Venice (2017).
In 2018 he curated a double exhibition in the Forbidden City, Beijing, Treasures from the Al Thani Collection, and edited the associated publications. Working with Martin Chapman, he co-curated East Meets West: Jewels of the Maharajas from the Al Thani Collection at the Legion of Honor Museum, San Francisco (2018–2019). In 2019 he curated Man, God and Nature in the Ancient World: Masterpieces from the Al Thani Collection at Tokyo National Museum. In 2020, Jaffer was commissioning editor of the book Hôtel Lambert written by Patrick Mauriès and illustrated with photographs from Robert Polidori.
Jaffer oversaw the creation of The Al Thani Collection museum space at the Hôtel de la Marine, Paris, which opened to critical acclaim in November 2021. Since its inception, the space has presented exhibitions in partnership with prestigious institutions such as the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum, Lisbon; the Galleria Giorgio Franchetti alla Ca D’Oro, Venice; and the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
In November 2023, the Diriyah Biennale Foundation announced his nomination as Artistic Director of the Islamic Arts Biennale which will take place in Jeddah from January to May 2025.