Conversations | Inventing the rules: Curating Rubaiya’s inaugural edition

Описание: Tom Eccles, Executive Director, Center for Curatorial Studies and Hessel Museum of Art, Bard College
Ruba Katrib, Chief Curator and Director of Curatorial Affairs at MoMA PS1, New York
Mark Rappolt, Editor-in-chief, ArtReview, London; Co-curator, Rubaiya Qatar, Doha
Shabbir Hussain Mustafa, Curator, The National Art Gallery, Singapore
Moderator: Tirdad Zolghadr, Curator of Academic Engagement, Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, Doha

What does it take to launch a new international quadrennial in an already crowded global art landscape – and what is at stake in doing so now? Rubaiya’s curators unpacked the thinking behind the quadrennial’s first edition, from its conceptual framework to its place within the wider ecosystem of biennials and large-scale exhibitions worldwide. The conversation considered how Rubaiya positions itself as a new cultural platform, and what it means to define new curatorial models, priorities, and publics from the ground up.

Tom Eccles leads the Center for Curatorial Studies, a distinguished curatorial graduate program at Bard College that combines academic research and practical training. He also directs the Hessel Museum of Art at the college. He has organized hundreds of exhibitions and artists’ projects at major museums and foundations both in the US and internationally. He was formerly the director of New York’s Public Art Fund, and since 2018 has worked on the public art program for Qatar.

Ruba Katrib is the chief curator and director of curatorial affairs at MoMA PS1, New York, where she oversees the museum’s curatorial program and serves on the leadership team. At PS1, she has organized exhibitions including ‘Ayoung Kim: Delivery Dancer Codex’ (2025); ‘The Gatherers’ (2025); and ‘Rirkrit Tiravanija: A LOT OF PEOPLE’ (2023). From 2012 to 2018, Katrib was the curator at SculptureCenter, New York, where she organized over 20 exhibitions. In 2018, she co-curated SITE Santa Fe’s biennial. Katrib regularly writes for periodicals and museum catalogs.

Mark Rappolt is the Editor-in-Chief of ArtReview and founded its sister publication, ArtReview Asia. His writing has appeared in publications ranging from i-D to Die Zeit, and includes catalogs on Matthew Krishanu and Lee Bae. Books include monographs on architects Greg Lynn and Frank Gehry. Recent exhibitions include ‘One Tiger or Another’ (2022), co-curated with Tom Eccles at Mathaf, Doha and ‘La Bella Estate’ (2025) co-curated with Tom Eccles and Liam Gillick at the Palazzo Re Rebaudengo, Guarene.

Shabbir Hussain Mustafa is the chief curator at the Singapore Art Museum, where he oversees the museum’s curatorial and exhibition programming. From 2023 to 2025, he served as the senior curator and head of exhibitions at Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, contributing to the development of the museum’s curatorial framework and collection strategy. He curated ‘SEA STATE: Charles Lim Yi Yong’ for the Singapore Pavilion at the 56th Venice Biennale (2015) and is currently a board member of CIMAM.

Tirdad Zolghadr is a curator and writer. Published writing includes fiction, criticism, and curatorial research. Curating includes biennial settings as well as long-term collective initiatives. Teaching engagements include the postgraduate program of the Berlin University of the Arts, the International Academy of Art Palestine, Ramallah, and the Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College, New York. Zolghadr has been an advisor at the Rijksakademie, Amsterdam since 2008.

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