French-Lebanese Ali Y. Khadra studied hotel management in Switzerland and pursued a career in the Airline catering industry before turning his passion for art into his publishing profession. In 2003 he founded the boutique publishing house Mixed Media Publishing and launched its flagship title, Canvas, the premier magazine for art and culture from the Middle East and Arab world. Two decades later, Canvas became a major catalyst on the global art scene. It is now complemented by Sorbet magazine (a themed quarterly exploring the interface of culture, lifestyle, fashion and affluence) and the bi-yearly Canvas Arabic magazine. Khadra also served as the regional consultant for Christie’s, a patron of Tate Modern and sat on the committees of various art organisations, including Prix Pictet, Magic of Persia, Nuqat, the Beirut Art Residency and the V&A’s Jameel Prize.