Photo London Appoints Kamiar Maleki as New Director of the Fair

Photo London has appointed Kamiar Maleki as the new director of the fair. He takes up this role ahead of the 8th edition of the fair which will take place at Somerset House from 10 –14 May 2023.

Kamiar Maleki brings to Photo London enormous skill and expertise on a world stage. A multifaceted arts professional with over 20 years of experience as a fair director, curator and collector, Maleki was previously Director of VOLTA Art Fairs in NYC and Basel (2019 – 2022) and Fair Director of Contemporary Istanbul (2016 – 2018).

Photo London’s Founders, Michael Benson and Fariba Fashad, say: “We are thrilled that Kamiar is joining Photo London as Director. The timing couldn’t be better. He comes to the Fair at a moment when photography itself is in such an exciting moment of flux and transition — when artistic practice moves freely from one form to another, embracing both digital and historical forms of image making. These are exciting times for photography and Kamiar is exactly the right person to harvest that excitement.”

Maleki comments: “I am delighted to be joining the team at Photo London. It is a Fair I have admired and visited from the beginning. I want to build on the legacy of what Fariba and Michael have achieved. I share their belief that this is an exciting time to explore and broaden the scope of the Fair. With the development of AI Photography, NFTs, Editions and digital art, and through its intersection with visual art including digital art VR and filmmaking, photography has expanded immensely as a medium. My aim is to bring together contemporary photography in all its forms and to strengthen still further Photo London’s highly distinctive role in the London and international arts ecology.”

Innovation has been a constant feature across Maleki’s career. As Director of VOLTA Art Fairs, Maleki created its first ever Cultural Spotlight Pavilion and guided the fair with grace and vision through the global pandemic; while at Contemporary Istanbul he founded the Contemporary Istanbul Foundation and developed the Gallery Support Program to subside smaller galleries showing at the fair.

Maleki is Co-Founder of the Agha Khan Museum UK Patrons Chapter and Founder of ICA Young Patrons for the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) in London. As a curator, Maleki’s work includes the NFT Liverpool in 2022; the first ever NFT art residency, on the French Riviera at the Four Seasons Grand-Hotel du CapFerrat in 2021; and HashtagAbstract (2015), the first exhibition to explore the researching and buying of art over instagram.

Since its launch in 2015, Photo London has successfully established itself as a key event in the global art world calendar and an important annual showcase of the very best of the past, present and future of photography. Maleki’s appointment comes at a time of expansion for Photo London, following a partnership between Benson and Farshad with Creo and Angus Montgomery Arts with whom they are currently developing PHOTOFAIRS New York which launches in September this year. His extensive networks in the international art world and expansive vision will strengthen Photo London's collector base and its ability to continue attracting the best in cutting-edge photography to explore and  celebrate the medium in all its forms.

The eighth edition of the Photo London will take place at Somerset House from 11 – 14 May with a Preview Day on Wednesday 10th May. Photo London 2023 will feature a solo exhibition of new work by this year’s Master of Photography Martin Parr, the group show ‘Writing her own Script: Women Photographers from the Hyman Collection’, the acclaimed Talks Programme and Discovery Section, which presents works from the frontiers of photography, alongside an impressive line-up of exhibitors coming from across the globe.