Elika Blake

Elika Blake is responsible for the research and cataloguing of the Modern & Contemporary Middle East sales, which span works from the Arab world, North Africa, Iran, and Türkiye from the twentieth century to present day. Elika joined Sotheby’s Middle East team in 2022.

Alongside the biannual auctions in London, Elika has worked closely on landmark sales including Sotheby's inaugural auction in Saudi Arabia in 2025, Origins. In 2024, Elika was project manager for Hafla: A Celebration of Middle Eastern Art, overseeing a month-long series of exhibitions including Khamseen: 50 Years of Saudi Visual Arts.

Of British Iranian descent, Elika holds a BA in History of Art from the University of Manchester with a research focus on modern and contemporary Iranian art and identity, and an MA in Middle Eastern Studies from SOAS University of London. In 2024, she co-curated Hudood: Rethinking Boundaries, an exhibition of contemporary Arab art from the Barjeel Art Foundation at the Brunei Gallery in London, and is published in its accompanying title.