Lina Lazaar, founder of Jaou Tunis, has initiated a number of quietly, but genuinely subversive projects. In 2012, when married to her first husband, Hassan Jameel of the billionaire Saudi family, she instituted the first Jeddah Art Week – which, called Art JAW, is a progenitor for Art Jaou. “It was the first time ever that men and women mixed with live music in the Kingdom,” she says.

Lina Lazaar, founder of Jaou Tunis, has initiated a numbe...