In 1954, a cash-strapped Jacques Cousteau pitched British Petroleum to lead a reconnaissance mission in the waters off the coast of Abu Dhabi.

The non-profit, Saudi-based foundation Art Jameel and the London-based Delfina Foundation have joined forces, and will jointly develop new programming and residency initiatives under a new partnership.

On first entering a gallery, one might not expect to be met with an array of research papers, neatly filed and awaiting perusal, but this is the case at Delfina Foundation, where Kuwait-born, Amman-based artist Ala Younis has been invited to present her art-cum-research project around the forgotten histories of female Iraqi modernists.

In its transitive sense, the verb 'to perform' requires for its object an act, a task, something prewritten.

Although she has spent more than three decades supporting hundreds of promising artists, the nonagenarian philanthropist Delfina Entrecanales has built no great art collection. At least, not in the conventional sense.

'Delfina Entrecanales doesn't collect art - she collects artists,' says Aaron Cezar, director of the freshly unveiled Delfina Foundation, which opened its new space in London last week.

'I am very nervous because I have never given an interview before,' Delfina Entrecanales whispers. 'Yes, you have.' Correcting her is Aaron Cezar, director of Entrecanales' eponymous art foundation. 'You gave one in 1996, but you didn't realise that it was an interview at the time.'