Maya Allison: Curator of 2022 Venice Biennale, UAE’s pavilion

Maya Allison is the founding Executive Director of The NYU Abu Dhabi Art Gallery and Chief Curator at New York University Abu Dhabi (NYUAD), a degree-granting research university in the liberal arts tradition. She comes from a curatorial background in academic museums, including at the RISD Museum (Rhode Island School of Design) and Curator at the Bell Gallery (Brown University). She holds an MFA from Columbia University, a BA in art history from Reed College, and was awarded a research fellowship on curatorial practices at Brown University’s Center for Public Humanities. Some of her exhibitions in the past include Diana Al-Hadid: Phantom Limb (NYUAD, 2016), Nostalgia Machines (Brown University, 2011), and Music Video/Silent Film: Innovations in the Moving Image (RISD Museum, 2007). She is a leading scholar in the region with a focus on the UAE art scene, past and present. This is exemplified by her exhibition, But We Cannot See Them: Tracing a UAE Art Community, 1988-2008 (NYUAD, 2017), a comprehensive survey of a UAE-based avant-garde community over the two decades. Currently, she is curating UAE’s pavilion for the 2022 Venice Biennale, which will feature the art of Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim.