Salwa Mikdadi is the Founding Director and Principal Investigator of al Mawrid Arab Center for the Study of Art (2020–, NYUAD) and Professor of Practice in Art History at NYU Abu Dhabi (2013–). Her research focuses on modern and contemporary art of the Arab world, Arab art institutions, gender politics in art, and museums and society. Past positions include Head of Professional Development at the Abu Dhabi Department of Culture and Tourism (DCT). Head of the Arts & Culture Program at the Emirates Foundation, taught at Sorbonne-Paris Abu Dhabi, and developed museum studies and curation courses for UAE art professionals (2009–2013). Mikdadi was the Founder and Director of Cultural & Visual Arts Resource/ICWA, one of the first non-profit organizations dedicated to art in the Arab world (USA 1988–2006). She curated numerous exhibitions (1968–2018), including Palestine c/o Venice at the 53rd Venice Biennial, 2009; Permanent Temporariness at the NYUAD Art Gallery (co-curator 2018); Forces of Change: Artists of the Arab World (traveling, USA 1994–95); and Rhythm & Form: Visual Reflection on Arabic Poetry (traveling, 1996–97). She is the editor of several catalogs and books on Arab art. She wrote the reference guide on the history of twentieth-century art in Western Asia and N. Africa for the Metropolitan Museum of Art Timeline of Art History. In recognition of the pioneering work of Professor Salwa Mikdadi, the Association of Modern and Contemporary Art of the Arab World, Iran, and Turkey (AMCA) launched The Salwa Mikdadi Research Award.