about

biography

Aya Mousawi has built a reputation for delivering major artistic experiences and intimate curated events in extraordinary settings throughout the world. With a talent in building meaningful community, she has galvanized a global network which spans cultural figureheads, creatives and grassroots communities, weaving them organically into the fabric of every project she works on.

Over the past ten years she has lived in London, Venice, Dubai, Istanbul, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Buenos Aires.  Having travelled the world as an insider, she has a unique ability to transform the foreign into the familiar through a nuanced understanding of cities and the unique people, histories, and cultural sensitivities that make them tick.

Aya was born and raised in London in a creative family of artists and architects. She graduated from SOAS University of London with first class honors in History of Art.

EXPERIENCE

In 2012 Aya Mousawi co-founded The Moving Museum, a nomadic social enterprise, that lead city-wide incubators, international residencies, large scale exhibitions, publications, public outreach programming, digital programming and major artwork commissions. With The Moving Museum, Aya successfully realized groundbreaking projects in Dubai, London and Istanbul, worked with over 100 international artists and over 40 government and private institutions.

Aya has been a consultant Strategist for Art Basel Cities, a new global initiative that expands the Art Basel experience to new cities around the world. In addition to supporting the development of their global program, the launch and programming of the first Art Basel Cities House in 2017, she was working on the delivery of large-scale cultural activations in Buenos Aires.

Since 2008, Aya has been closely involved in the Middle East cultural scene from its contemporary roots. She was Assistant Curator for the internationally renowned initiative Edge of Arabia, which was the first to present contemporary art from Saudi Arabia to global audiences. With Edge of Arabia, she realized several pioneering exhibitions in London, Berlin, Istanbul, Dubai, Doha, Jeddah, as well as two major participations in the Venice Biennale. Aya has also consulted for AMBS Architects on the new Baghdad Library and its development as a new arts and culture center in Iraq.