"The Life of the Project" is a series of essays that seeks to work through a set of questions about how art is supported and what art is for. Commissioned by the Bohen Foundation and written by Kaelen Wilson-Goldie, the series delves into the different funding mechanisms that have developed since the 1990s to encourage projects ranging from individual artworks to independent institutions. Taking the cultural landscape of the Middle East as a case study in comparative perspective, the series sheds critical light on the funding dynamic for the purpose of imagining new models of patronage and more lasting structures of support.