Ruba Katrib Appointed as Curator at MoMA PS1

Ruba Katrib will join MoMA PS1 as curator of exhibitions and programs, beginning October 15.

Regarding Katrib’s new appointment, the institution’s chief curator Peter Eleey notes: “As a longtime admirer of Ruba’s work, I am thrilled that she is joining the museum […] She is deeply engaged with artists here in New York and communities around the world, partnering closely with them to realize novel presentations of their work. As her inspired group shows suggest, she seeks connections between the conditions of life and the thicket of ideas and conversations that shape contemporary art, with a generosity that encourages audiences to share in her thinking.”

Katrib joined her current position at SculptureCenter in 2012, where she has led over 20 exhibitions and public programs to date, including well-received group shows such as “A Disagreeable Object” (2012), “Puddle, Pothole, Portal” (2014) (co-curated with artist Camille Henrot) and more recently “Cercle d’Art des Travailleurs de Plantation Congolaise (Congolese Plantation Workers Art League)” (2017). During her tenure, she produced wide-ranging exhibitions that featured artists such as Cosima von Bonin, Araya Rasdjarmrearnsook, Anthea Hamilton, and oversaw the museum’s 2,000-square-foot expansion in Long Island City in 2012.

Early in her career, she co-founded the non-profit art space and residency Threewalls in Chicago in 2003, leading the space with a strong curatorial voice and providing direct support to artists and collaborative projects under the organization’s mission to connect segregated communities, people and experiences. Prior to joining SculptureCenter, she held positions as assistant curator then as associate curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art in North Miami, from 2007 to 2012, where she was also awarded the Curatorial Fellowship from the Andy Warhol Foundation in 2010 to support her research on artist-run education platforms throughout Latin America. She is currently also a “companion” research advisor for the 57th edition of Carnegie International which will open in 2018—the oldest exhibition of international contemporary art in North America.

Julee WJ Chung is ArtAsiaPacific’s assistant editor.

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