As the word itself suggests, the role of the curator begins with “taking care.” Curators act as intermediaries between artists, institutions or galleries and audiences, but also as mediators within the broader network of stakeholders who provide the funding, visibility and infrastructure that enable cultural value to circulate. As the art world’s systems have grown more complex and globally interconnected, curators now play a role that extends far beyond selecting artworks, determining display strategies or writing exhibition texts.

They are central pillars in the dynamics of value creation—shaping narratives and visibility, advocating for artists and securing the resources and conditions needed to realize their visions. Their power no longer lies in interpretation, tastemaking or storytelling alone, but in their capacity to build cultural ecosystems: patron networks, artist pipelines, intellectual frameworks and cross-border collaborations.

By building and reshaping institutions, rewriting art-historical canons, commissioning new work and fostering opportunities for exchange, the following curators function as dynamic catalysts transforming the contemporary art system as a whole. Responding to the political, ecological and technological forces that define our time, they play a vital role in supporting—and quite literally “taking care” of—the circulation and production of artistic vision across the art world’s many tiers, contexts and voices.

Hoor Al Qasimi has transformed the Gulf’s cultural landscape into one of the world’s most closely watched centers of contemporary art, while continually reshaping what biennials can be. Since co-curating the Sharjah Biennial in 2003 at just twenty-two, she has expanded its reach into a year-round infrastructure of residencies, commissions and educational initiatives, positioning Sharjah as a nexus for artists between East and West. Her curatorial approach foregrounds ecological, postcolonial and transregional perspectives that link Asia, Africa and the Middle East in critical dialogue. In 2025, she was appointed artistic director of both the Aichi Triennale and next year’s Biennale of Sydney, cementing her reputation as one of the most influential figures redefining the role and format of biennials in response to shifting cultural contexts. “A biennial has to engage with the city. It can’t be isolated,” she said in a discussion with Observer about the Aichi Triennale. “Some biennials are reduced to museum shows, but for me, the exciting ones are the ones that venture into public spaces, engage with people and develop as collaborative processes.” Most recently, ALESCO named Al Qasimi its 2025–26 Ambassador Extraordinary for Arab Culture, and she was appointed president of the newly established University of the Arts Sharjah, launched in December 2025.

Alex Gartenfeld has transformed ICA Miami into one of the U.S.’s most dynamic museums, particularly noted for its collection and contemporary programming. At only 37, he has overseen landmark acquisitions, groundbreaking commissions and now a major expansion through the planned acquisition of the neighboring de la Cruz Collection building, which will double ICA Miami’s exhibition space. His curatorial philosophy pairs experimentation with intellectual rigor—seen in shows like last year’s Keiichi Tanaami retrospective and his embrace of digital art—reflecting Miami’s dual identity as a regional city and global crossroads. “Over the last decade, we have been among the world’s most actively growing institutions for contemporary art,” he told Observer ahead of last year’s Miami Art Week. “Our collecting approach is global and interdisciplinary and includes various perspectives and narratives. Whenever we present works from the collection, we approach these presentations as scholarly curated exhibitions that highlight topical themes and histories and often bring new voices to the fore.” Gartenfeld’s leadership has helped define a new institutional model—nimble, patron-supported and conceptually ambitious—that positions ICA Miami as both an incubator for emerging voices and a significant force in next-generation museum practice.

Naomi Beckwith, newly appointed artistic director of documenta 16, is one of the most visible curatorial leaders redefining major institutions from within. Trained at Northwestern University and the Courtauld Institute of Art, she built her career at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, where she elevated discourse on race, feminism and conceptual art through exhibitions featuring Adrian Piper, Howardena Pindell and Lynette Yiadom‑Boakye as well as groundbreaking thematic shows like “Grief and Grievance: Art and Mourning in America” at the New Museum and ”ECHO DELAY REVERB – American Art, French Thought,” which is currently on view at Palais Tokyo in Paris, through February 2026. Her move to the Guggenheim in 2021 marked a generational pivot toward inclusivity and intellectual depth at the top of American museum culture. Her appointment to lead documenta 16 was a welcome surprise. She is the first Black woman to curate the show in its 69-year history and only the second woman overall, after Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev curated the 2012 edition, and she has assembled an all-women curatorial team. Beckwith is notably one of the first artistic directors of documenta without significant biennial experience. She served on the curatorial committee for one edition of SITE Santa Fe’s SITElines biennial and the awards jury for the 2015 Venice Biennale, but her long career staging major museum exhibitions and her standing as a global cultural force shaping new institutional narratives was qualification enough.

Thelma Golden has spent three decades defining the contours of Black art within contemporary American discourse. As director and chief curator of the Studio Museum in Harlem since 2005, she has mentored generations of artists—among them

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