Dr Karin G. Oen, newly appointed Deputy Director,
Curatorial Programmes, NTU CCA Singapore
NTU Centre for Contemporary Art Singapore announced the appointment of Dr Karin G. Oen to the position of Deputy Director, Curatorial Programmes.
Dr Oen holds a PhD in History, Theory and Criticism of Art and Architecture from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, an MA in Modern Art History, Connoisseurship and Art-Market History from Christie’s Education and a B.A. in Urban Studies, with an Art History minor, from Stanford University.
She was most recently the associate curator of contemporary art at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco. As the Asian Art Museum’s first full-time curator of contemporary art, Dr Oen has been a pivotal figure in the growth of the museum’s contemporary collection — especially in new media and works by Asian diaspora artists, as well as in ceramics by modern masters.
Deeply engaged with the intersection of art, technology and culture, and the migration of people and ideas, Dr Oen is a global modernist whose curatorial practice spans the art and architecture from 19th through to 21st century.
Prior to joining the Asian Art Museum, Dr Oen was the curator at the Crow Museum of Asian Art in Dallas, Texas. While there, she also taught courses on modern and contemporary Asian art at the University of North Texas and the University of Texas at Dallas. She was previously a museum educator for Asian art at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts, and oversaw the curatorial program, artists’ residencies and artist-in-industry program at ArtWorks!, a contemporary art centre in New Bedford, Massachusetts.
NTU CCA Singapore’s Founding Director, Professor Ute Meta Bauer says of the appointment
“We are excited to have Karin Oen joining our young team as her studies were situated at research universities similar to our own, Nanyang Technological University. She brings a wealth of experience to all fields of our mission as a national research centre in the arts, and will also be an asset in our newly established Masters in Museum Studies and Curatorial Practice programme.”
As Deputy Director, Curatorial Programmes at NTU CCA, Dr Oen will lead the curatorial team in exhibitions and residencies, and as part of the leadership team, she will work closely with the director to deliver on organisational objectives, development and partnerships, and cultivating collaborations with artists and other institutions internationally.
Dr Oen will officially commence at NTU CCA Singapore on 13 August 2019.
