Murtaza Vali is a critic, curator and art historian based in Sharjah and Brooklyn. His ongoing research interests include materialist art histories, ex-centric minimalisms, the weight of color and contemporary art of the Indian Ocean littoral. A recipient of a 2011 Creative Capital | Warhol Foundation Arts Writers Grant for Short-Form Writing, his criticism regularly appears in Artforum, Frieze and art-agenda.com among other international art periodicals and he has contributed essays to catalogues accompanying exhibitions at non-profit institutions and commercial galleries around the world. Vali is also part of the Artistic Team for the 2nd FRONT Triennial in Cleveland in 2022 and an Adjunct Curator at the Jameel Arts Centre in Dubai, where he curated the widely acclaimed inaugural group exhibition Crude, which explored the relationship between oil and modernity across West Asia. A Visiting Instructor at Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, he has been a Lead Tutor (w/ Uzma Z. Rizvi) of Campus Art Dubai and a Lead Mentor for the Hayy: Learning Curatorial Fellowship.
Uzma Z. Rizvi
Uzma Z. Rizvi is an anthropological and cultural archaeologist who specializes in ancient urbanisms, epistemic critique, and critical heritage studies. Rizvi has intentionally interwoven archaeology with cultural criticism, philosophy, critical theory, art, architecture and design. She is Associate Professor of Anthropology and Urban Studies at the Pratt Institute, New York and a Visiting Professor at Shah Abdul Latif University, Khairpur, Pakistan. Rizvi has published four books and numerous articles and essays including work in The New Inquiry, E-Flux, TANK, LEAP, and anthro{dendum}, among others. Some of her recent publications include ‘Critical Heritage and Participatory Discourses in the UAE’ (2018) and ‘Decolonization as Care’ (2016). Rizvi has been a lead tutor (w/ Murtaza Vali) of Art Dubai’s seminar program, Campus Art Dubai (CAD) since 2014 and directed (w/ Amal Khalaf) Art Dubai’s 2016 Global Art Forum (GAF-10), The Future Was__. In 2018, Rizvi was the Head of the Department of Mapping Margins for the Fikra Graphic Design Biennial 01: Ministry of Graphic Design, Sharjah, UAE.
