OUR COMMUNITY

Pamela Hraoui is a multi-disciplinary designer and art director from Beirut, Lebanon. Hraoui brings a wealth of international experience delivering projects in arts and communication across the Gulf, EU, Africa, Latin America and Australia. With experience at M&C Saatchi, Quantum, and LBCI, she has won multiple international awards including the Dubai Lynx Jury Award. Through all her work she brings her unique political experiences to drive her ethos and narrative.

William Kaafarani is Chairman and Managing Director of MENA Global Group. Prior to his own ventures and initiatives, Kaafarani has served leadership roles in business development, providing consultancy and investment advisory services to American Express and GE Capital. An avid traveler of 56 countries, Kaafarni brings with him deep knowledge of emerging markets in the Middle East North Africa (MENA).

Sheila Arora is Vice-Chair of the Brussels based Europe-Asia Center, communications veteran and curator of concepts and partnerships. Having lived and worked throughout Asia, New York, Italy and Central Europe, London-born Arora has a passion for bringing ideas to life with her career focus in art, cultural diplomacy and luxury lifestyle. 

Nikki Nita Ramírez is an art advisor, gallerist, and curator based between New York and London. Ramírez is the co-founder and co-director of Danuser & Ramírez, a contemporary art gallery based in London championing emerging artists with underrepresented voices. Her previous positions have been at The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, the Museum of Modern Art, The Peggy Guggenheim Collection, and most recently, The Studio Museum in Harlem. Her bachelor’s degree being in Art History and Conservation in Florence, Italy opened a new way of looking at curation in a transhistorical approach. Ramírez’s practice is based on bridging the gap between the ancient antiquities of the Baroque and the contemporary art scene today.

Patrick Petermann is a Swiss lawyer working as counsel for a multinational cooperation in the transportation sector. Born and living in Basel, he has been interested in the art world since his childhood. Today he actively supports the gallery business of Diana Vogel, his wife, who runs Galerie Katapult in Basel.

Carolina Conforti is an art historian, collector and writer. Born in Naples, Carolina studied in Switzerland and Paris. Her career has since taken her to the Louvre and Sotheby’s, Paris and Christie’s in London and on to launch Art Talk Magazine in 2020. She manages her own family’s art collection and is Editor-in-Chief of Art Investor magazine that focuses on the philanthropic, cultural and investment value of art.

Christian Marx founded the Christian Marx Galerie in Düsseldorf in 2009. The graduate economist previously worked as an art consultant for several years and now supports both emerging young and established mid-career artists. The gallery attracts both institutional and private collectors and is a member of the Federal Association of German Galleries and Editions.

Julia Lechbinska’s eponymous gallery serves as a cultural bridge for East Asian contemporary art in Switzerland. Julia's journey commenced in wealth management, where she managed the East Asian market. This experience piqued her interest in the arts and culture of this region, prompting her to pursue a Master's in Art History. Julia further honed her skills through art expertise training and gained valuable experience working in an auction house before establishing her own gallery – Lechbinska Gallery based in Zurich.

Francois Laurent Renet entered the art world in New York working at L&M Arts, working alongside Dominique Lévy, in contemporary art to Old Masters. Working across the movie, gaming, VR and AR industries in California, Renet then advised start ups across the Art, Entertainment and Health and Wellness spaces. Most recently, Renet has launched Art Talk Magazine alongside Carolina Conforti.

Maryana Kaliner is the founder of FORMah gallery, an entrepreneur, and finance professional specializing in business strategy and development. Formerly focused on high-volume deals and mergers and acquisitions in the global tech industry, Kaliner shifted to the art world in 2021. FORMah Gallery holds a mission to shine a light on female-identifying artists. Kaliner is a frequent public speaker and is actively involved in organizations that empower women. She holds an Executive MA in Negotiation and Decision Making in International Relations and a BA in Economics.

Ethan Cohen first founded his eponymous gallery in 1987 as Art Waves/Ethan Cohen in SoHo, New York City. A groundbreaker in the field of contemporary Chinese art, Ethan was the first gallerist to present the Chinese Avant-Garde of the 1980s to the United States.

Today the Ethan Cohen Gallery represents a diverse global mix of contemporary and postwar contemporary art, with a continuing focus on emerging as well as established artists. Ethan advises private, public, and corporate clients and is a certified appraiser with the Appraisers Association of America. He is specialist in contemporary Asian art, African art and Post War Contemporary Art.

Ola and Maya Rondiak are contemporary artists who join the VOLTA Advisory Board as a mother daughter duo, bringing a cross-generational outlook to their experiences living between New York and Ukraine. Ola’s painting practice stems from her family’s experiences living in Ukraine during the historical events of World War II, Stalin's Iron Curtain, and the pivotal moments of the Orange Revolution in 2004 and the Revolution of Dignity in 2014. Her work has been exhibited at VOLTA New York 2023 with Alessandro Berni Gallery and becomes a poignant reflection of her personal history intricately woven with Ukraine's collective past and traditions. Maya is a renaissance woman and multifaceted artist and activist. Releasing music under the name Maya Mor, she weaves influences from her cultural heritage into the music and into the global issues she raises awareness to through her platforms.