Maya Allison is founding Director of the Art Galleries and Chief Curator at New York University Abu Dhabi. 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 was also director of the city-wide, international new media showcase Pixilerations, and of the 5 Traverse Gallery, both in Providence, RI, USA. 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. She has curated numerous exhibitions, highlights of which include Diana Al-Hadid: Phantom Limb (NYUAD, 2016), Slavs and Tatars: Mirrors for Princes (NYUAD, 2015), Nostalgia Machines (Brown University, 2011), Music Video/Silent Film: Innovations in the Moving Image (RISD Museum, 2007). Her most recent project, But We Cannot See Them: Tracing a UAE Art Community, 1988-2008 (NYUAD, 2017) is a comprehensive survey of a UAE-based avant-garde community over the two decades before its artists rose to international prominence.
