SCALING UP: THE FUTURE OF ART INSTITUTIONS IN ASIA AND THE MIDDLE EAST

Lydia Yee is Artistic Director of Muara Arts, a new public gallery focusing on contemporary and modern art in Southeast Asia, which opens in Kuala Lumpur in November 2026. Spanning three decades, her curatorial work – in roles including Chief Curator, Whitechapel Gallery; Curator, Barbican Art Gallery and Senior Curator, The Bronx Museum of the Arts, New York – is marked by a long engagement with artists who have roots in Asia. A recipient of the Asian Cultural Council Individual Fellowship (2024–25) and a member of the Turner Prize jury (2024), Yee is also a senior curatorial advisor to YDP and a member of the external faculty for New Curators.

Manuel Rabaté is Chief Executive Officer and Director of the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA), New Delhi. He brings more than 25 years of leadership in the global museum sector. Rabaté most recently served as Director of Louvre Abu Dhabi, a position he has held since 2016. Under his leadership, following the museum's opening in 2017, Louvre Abu Dhabi, recognized as the Arab world's first universal museum, grew into a globally influential cultural landmark, known for its ambitious international exhibition programme, expanding permanent collection, and strong focus on education and capacity-building, welcoming more than six million visitors to date. Rabaté has been associated with Louvre Abu Dhabi since its inception, joining Agence France-Muséums shortly after the intergovernmental agreement between France and Abu Dhabi that established the museum. At Agence France-Muséums, he served successively as Chief Financial Officer, Secretary General, and Chief Executive Officer (2008–2016), before joining the Department of Culture and Tourism, Abu Dhabi to support the museum's institutional launch. Earlier in his career, Rabaté was Deputy Director of Cultural Development at the Musée du quai Branly, Jacques Chirac, and taught arts and cultural management at Paris-Dauphine University and Paris-Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi.