Zeina Arida, who comes to Mathaf from the Sursock Museum in Beirut will succeed Abdellah Karroum, who has concluded his tenure as Director of Mathaf.

Qatar Museums today announced the appointment of Zeina Arida as the new Director of Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, the Arab world’s leading institution of modern and contemporary art. Arida comes to Mathaf from the Sursock Museum in Beirut, where she has served as Director since 2014, and have become director of Mathaf on 1st November 2021.

She will succeed Abdellah Karroum, who has concluded his tenure as Director of Mathaf and become Special Curatorial Advisor to Sheikha Amna Al Thani, Acting Deputy CEO of Museums, Collections and Heritage Protection for Qatar Museums and Director of the National Museum of Qatar, providing counsel on contemporary art across all of Qatar Museums. This new role will allow Karroum to undertake independent academic and curatorial projects internationally.

An expert in the arts, culture and heritage of the Arab world with a focus on photography, archives and modern and contemporary art, Arida reopened the Sursock Museum after a ten-year renovation and expansion project, initiating local and international partnerships, presenting exhibitions, public programs, and library and archives programs, turning the museum into a local and international landmark. After the museum was damaged by the Beirut blast in 2020, she raised more than $2.5 million for the reconstruction of the building and the restoration of the artworks. From 1997 to 2014, Arida was the director of the Arab Image Foundation (AIF), where she co-initiated MEPPI, a strategic multi-year program designed to raise awareness of the importance of preserving the region’s photographic heritage. She will work side-by-side with Karroum for a period to facilitate a smooth transition.

Ahmad al-Namla, CEO of Qatar Museums, said, “We welcome our remarkable new Director, Zeina Arida, who is bringing her deep experience and distinctive vision to Mathaf to guide this institution into its next decade. We are profoundly grateful to Abdellah Karroum for his invaluable role in developing Mathaf over the past eight years through the breadth of knowledge he has contributed to this institution and the many important relationships with artists he has brought to us.”

Zeina Arida said, “It is an honor to be chosen to lead this truly exceptional institution. I am excited to begin working with the staff, the Qatar Museum leadership, and outstanding artists of Arab background within the region and around the world, as we build on Mathaf’s achievements of the past years.”

Abdellah Karroum said, “It has been a privilege to lead Mathaf as Director for the last 8 years. As we celebrate the 10th anniversary of Mathaf, I am proud of the museum’s achievements and progress made with the team during my tenure across the collection, exhibitions, publications and engagement, in Qatar and internationally. I am confident that the museum will continue to flourish under the new Director Zeina Arida. I wish her every success for the future.”

Abdellah Karroum joined Mathaf as its Director in 2013. A curator, researcher, and cultural instigator born in Morocco, he came to Mathaf after serving as associate curator for La Triennale, Paris (2012) alongside the late Okwui Enwezor and as artistic director of the Biennale Benin (2012). A leader in post-colonial curatorial thought, committed to writing art history from the perspectives of a world with multiple centers, he first came to prominence as the founder of L’appartement 22, an experimental space in Rabat for exhibitions and artists’ residencies, established in 2002.

Among the notable exhibitions he has organized, bringing international attention to Mathaf and Qatar Museums, are: Our World Is Burning at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris, a major initiative of the Qatar-France Year of Culture; Moroccan Trilogy at the Reina Sofía National Museum of Modern Art in Madrid; Revolution Generations at Mathaf; and exhibitions of the work of artists including Wael Shawky, Shakir Hassan Al-Said, M.F. Husain, Raqs Media Collective, El Anatsui, Yto Barrada, and Huguette Caland. He has been instrumental in continuing to build the collection of Mathaf and has been integral to scholarly initiatives such as the conference Expanding Geographies of Resistance on Modern and Contemporary Art, co-organized by Mathaf and the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, and ongoing development of the Mathaf Encyclopedia of Modern Art and the Arab World.