Suad Garayeva-Maleki Appointed New Artistic Director Of Yarat

Yarat, a nonprofit contemporary art organization based in Baku, Azerbaijan, has announced the appointment of Suad Garayeva-Maleki as the new artistic director. Garayeva-Maleki succeeds Björn Geldhof, who has returned to the PinchukArtCentre in Kiev, Ukraine, where he was once deputy artistic director.

Garayeva-Maleki has served as chief curator of Yarat since 2014, mounting exhibitions by artists including Neil Beloufa, Hannah Black and Shirin Neshat, as well as organizing the art space’s collateral event at the 56th Venice Biennale, “The Union of Fire and Water.” Prior to joining the nonprofit, she served as a specialist in contemporary art from Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States at Sotheby’s London, where she curated exhibitions such as “At The Crossroads: Contemporary Art from Caucasus and Central Asia” (2013) and “At The Crossroads 2: Art from Istanbul to Kabul” (2014).

The nonprofit aims to strengthen its contemporary art programming, with exhibitions featuring Italian artist Michelangelo Pistoletto, Azerbaijani artist and Yarat founder Aida Mahmudova, and Indian artist Shilpa Gupta lined up this year.

Yarat, which means “create” in Azerbaijani, was established in 2011 as a hub for artistic practice in the Caucasian region. The organization comprises Yarat Art Centre, a permanent gallery housed in a repurposed Soviet-era naval building; Artim Project Space; Yarat Studios; and YAY Gallery. 

Sophie von Wunster is an editorial intern at ArtAsiaPacific.

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