Artist and curator Ala Younis becomes Artistic Director of the Academy of the Arts of the World. Ala Younis has been a member of the ADKDW since 2018 and curates widely acclaimed exhibitions worldwide, including the Singapore Biennale 2022 and the Berlinale section Forum Expanded. She is also well connected to the Cologne art scene already: With the exhibition HANDS: an art campaign (2021), she succeeded in making artistic practice accessible and anchoring it in everyday life, even in pandemic times. Younis will take over as Artistic Director starting May 2023 from Max Jorge Hinderer Cruz, who is stepping down from the position for health reasons. The author and curator will continue to dedicate his time to teaching and research as well as political issues, and will remain affiliated with the Academy as an active member.
In her programming for ADKDW Ala Younis focuses on innovative and critical artistic practices that will enable encounters and dialogue between the international art scene and the Cologne audience. “As a key contributor to the shaping of the public’s awareness, the Academy of the Arts of the World fosters the potential of art as an essential service to the society. In this spirit, I would like to see the Academy continue to grow as a live, conversing and reliable network," says Ala Younis.
The 2023 program curated by Max Jorge Hinderer Cruz - which includes the Learning to Listen series, the exhibition My Life began several Centuries ago, An Ecosystem of Circulating Images, and the carnival project Arte De Carnaval | Carnival of Art - will continue and be complemented by additional events that Ala Younis will curate for the Academy beginning in the summer of 2023: “The Academy is an entity that builds, through friendships, solid networks and expanded opportunities for art practitioners. I am looking forward to being more present”, says Ala Younis.
