Building the places where culture happens
Philanthropy sits at the centre of what Zantara Group does. It is one of the reasons the firm was formed in the first place, it shapes the families we attract, and it accounts for a meaningful share of the work we do each year.
Why architecture and art
Buildings are the most public record a society keeps of itself. They outlast the governments that approved them and the fashions that shaped them, and long after their original purpose has been forgotten they continue to tell anyone paying attention why a place is valued and who it was built for.
That much is well understood. What interests us more is the second effect. The built environment does not only reflect a specific history. It works on the people who move through it, forming their sense of who belongs where, what is possible and what life in this place looks like. A child raised in a city that made room for public art grows up with different expectations from one raised in a city that did not.
Artists have always understood this. Architects have always understood this. Zantara Group brings these two perspectives together in a way that can facilitate real impact.
Our vision, exemplified globally
Zantara Group is working with select clients to develop a worldwide network of creative hubs where artists, architects, curators and cultural practitioners work alongside one another on the question of how the built environment shapes identity.
Each hub will be located in a city where that question has weight, occupying a building that carries some of the history in question. The programme aims to support residencies, commissions, research and public exhibitions. Participants will be selected across disciplines and career stages, with a deliberate emphasis on practitioners working outside the established cultural capitals.
The first site is in development. We will say more when there is something to see rather than something to announce.
If you would like to discuss this new philanthropic venture with our team, you can reach out to our team. We would be happy to hear from you.
Philanthropy for the families we serve
Not every family shares our enthusiasm, and we would not expect them to. What we offer is the apparatus, applied to whatever cause a family has chosen.
That includes:
- Defining a mission with enough specificity to be actionable
- Selecting and establishing the right vehicle, whether a private foundation, a donor-advised fund, a charitable trust or direct grant-making
- Governance arrangements and trustee appointments
- Grant assessment and due diligence on recipient organizations
- Reporting, compliance and annual filings across jurisdictions
- Involving younger family members in a way that gives them real responsibility
Where a family's interests overlap with ours, in the arts, in heritage or in the built environment, we can offer relationships and judgment that a generalist advisor would need years to develop.
Organisations whose work we admire
We keep an eye on a wide field. The organisations below are working at the meeting point of art, architecture and public life, and we point families towards them frequently.
- World Monuments Fund Global
Conservation of significant places under threat, with a strong record of working alongside local communities.
- The Architectural Heritage Fund United Kingdom
Grants and loans supporting the rescue of historic buildings for community use.
- Open City London
Widening access to architecture through education and public programmes.
- Art Fund United Kingdom
Helping museums and galleries acquire and share work with the public.
- Aga Khan Trust for Culture Global
Architectural conservation and urban regeneration across the Muslim world and beyond.