The MENAEA Collection started out as a private art collection and dealership of Middle Eastern, North African, European and Asian (MENAEA) antiquities and contemporary art across a period of 3000 years. Today it is a creative organisation that also encompasses a curatorial office, cultural consultancy, research base and permanent collection space. Through meaningful collaborations, partnerships and philanthropy with international emerging and established artists, curators, collectors, galleries and institutions, founder Raja Umar Jamalullail (Umar) organises and curates exhibitions at unique venues across the globe, often juxtaposing ancient and contemporary art whilst creating dialogues on social, political, economic, environmental and technological issues that stretch beyond continents and generations. Previously located in London, the MENAEA Collection will be shifting base to Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur and is anticipated to launch a permanent creative space in the city as well as in Paris in 2025. 

Umar’s academic background is in finance, accounting and economics. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Finance and Accounting from the University of Nottingham as well as a Postgraduate Diploma in Economics and Master of Science in Banking and Finance from Queen Mary University of London where he researched and specialised in Malaysia’s monetary policy post the 1997 Asian financial crisis. Despite his contrasting background, Umar has admired and been surrounded by ancient art all his life, adventuring on archaeological expeditions in Greece, Italy, Cambodia, Indonesia, Thailand and Egypt. Umar has also worked in finance at a London-based fashion company, politics at the City of London Corporation and at an environmental finance consultancy. Today he sits on the board of his family’s investment holding firm where he involves himself with its hospitality arm.