The art space hosts selections from Tony and Elham Salamé’s personal collection. The inaugural exhibition, entitled “New Skin,” was curated by Massimiliano Gioni and features work from notable artists such as Alice Channer, Sterling Ruby and Danh Voh, as well as figures from the Arte Povera movement such as Giuseppe Penone. Aïshti by the Sea Aïshti by the Sea includes luxury brands such as Alexander McQueen, Proenza Schouler, Alaia, Sonia Rykiel, Tory Burch, Loewe, Marc Jacobs, Pal Zileri, Alberta Ferretti, with more than 90 in total. The mall also features the Art People restaurant. Tony Salamé Tony Salamé is a Lebanese Italian businessman and art collector, as well as the CEO and Chairman of Aishti. Salamé opened the first Aishti store in 1989. In 1995, he built Aishti into Lebanon’s foremost luxury department store with a flagship store in Beirut’s Downtown Souks, with affiliated mono-brand boutiques surrounding it – such as Cartier, Dior and Dolce & Gabbana. Italian Order of Merit In March 2015 Salamé was awarded the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic, Italy's highest honor, by the Italian Embassy in Beirut at an event attended by diplomats, business partners and family. Art collection Salamé owns around 2,500 works by over 150 artists. He works closely with New York art dealer Jeffrey Deitch, and began buying art in 2003, first acquiring Arte Povera works by Penone, Lucio Fontana and others. Around 200 works were selected for the opening show entitled New Skin, curated by Massimiliano Gioni. According to Gioni, the associate director and director of exhibitions at the New Museum in New York, there has been “a sudden acceleration of the [Salamé] collection in the past ten years." The main focus of his collection is 21st century art. Personal life He is married to Elham Salamé; they have four children: Tasha, Giorgio, Sandro and Mateo. He speaks fluent French, English, Arabic and Italian. References External links Aïshti Department stores of Lebanon Retail companies of Lebanon