Assuring Our Cultural Legacy in the 21st Century contains essays from visionaries at the cutting edge of vital preservation work, along with selected transcripts from the compelling keynotes and panel discussions that took place at Asia Society's 2015 Arts & Museum Summit. The publication probes the key ethical and practical questions facing preservation and cultural heritage, and explores the technologies, methods, and practices used to keep these traditions intact and relevant into the 21st Century.

This publication has been made possible with the support of H2 Foundation for Arts and Education Limited, Hallam Chow, and Fanzhi Foundation for Art and Education Limited. We would also like to express our gratitude to Harold and Ruth Newman, and the Julis-Rabinowitz Family Art Initiative for their support of the Asia Arts and Museum Network.

Contributors

Arahmaiani is one of Indonesia’s most respected and iconic contemporary artists. In the 1980s and 1990s, she established herself as a pioneer in performance art in Southeast Asia. Her multidisciplinary practice incorporates painting, drawing, installation, video, poetry, dance, and music. Her work has grappled with contemporary politics, violence, critiques of capitalism, the female body, and in recent years, her own identity as a Muslim who uses aspects of Islamic, Hindu, Buddhist, and animist beliefs in her work. In her prolific career of activism combined with artistic practice, she has used her influence to direct attention to violence against women and female discrimination in Indonesia’s Islamic community, as well as to fight against the stigmatization of Islam after September 11. Since 2010, a focus of her work has been the environmental issues in the Tibetan plateau region, where she has been collaborating with local monks and villagers to foster environmental protection. Her work has been shown widely in exhibitions around the world, including “Suspended Histories,” Museum Van Loon, Amsterdam, 2014; “Global Feminisms,” Brooklyn Museum, 2007; and the landmark exhibition “Traditions/Tensions,” Asia Society, New York, 1996. In 2003, Arahmaiani was one of the artists representing Indonesia at the 50th Venice Biennale.

Dina Bangdel was associate professor and director of the Art History program at Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar (VCUQatar). She was a specialist of South Asian and Himalayan art and architecture with a particular interest in the visual cultures of Nepal and Tibet. She explored the intersections of ritual and sacred architecture of Buddhist South Asia in the early modern period. Bangdel’s research and outreach activities have focused on cultural studies and heritage preservation issues in Nepal, specifically in illicit trafficking and, most recently, in the context of postearthquake reconstruction challenges in Nepal. She served as a panelist for conferences, including the UNESCO/Korea Funds-in-Trust project, “Support for the Preparation of the World Heritage Serial Nomination for the Silk Roads in South Asia,” 2014, and the UNESCO symposium “Protecting Asia’s Heritage: Strategies for Fighting Illicit Traffic of Cultural Property,” 2013. In addition to authoring articles and book chapters, she was the curator of international exhibitions, including “Prakriti Speaks: Contemporary Nepali Art,” [Kala Ghoda] Museum Art Gallery, Mumbai, 2011; “Pilgrimage and Faith: Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam,” Rubin Museum, New York, 2011; and “Circle of Bliss: Buddhist Meditational Art,” Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2003–2004, and Columbus Museum of Art, 2004.

Irina Bokova has been the director-general of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) since 2009. She is engaged in international efforts to advance gender equality and quality education for all, and to combat terrorist financing by preventing the illicit trafficking of cultural goods. A leading champion in the fight against racism and anti-Semitism, Bokova has spearheaded UNESCO’s activities on Holocaust remembrance, awareness, and education. Other fields of action include enabling scientific cooperation for sustainable development, such as early warning systems for tsunamis or transboundary water management agreements, and global advocacy for the safety of journalists and freedom of expression. A proponent for European integration, Bokova has served as minister for foreign affairs, coordinator of Bulgaria–European Union relations, and ambassador of Bulgaria to France, Monaco, and UNESCO. She is a founding member and chairman of the European Policy Forum, an NGO created to promote European identity and encourage dialogue to overcome divisions in Europe. Bokova has received state distinctions from countries across the world and is Doctor honoris causa of leading universities. She graduated from Moscow State Institute of International Relations, and studied at the University of Maryland and the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

Bonnie Burnham is the president emerita of World Monuments Fund. Joining as executive director in 1985, she led WMF’s historic international preservation work. Previously she served as the executive director of the International Foundation for Art Research, from 1975 to 1985. Burnham is an expert in the protection and preservation of cultural heritage. She has been honored as a Chevalier of the French Order of Arts and Letters, is a distinguished alumna of the College of the Arts of the University of Florida, and is the first recipient of the University’s Beinecke-Reeves Distinguished Achievement Award, granted by the Historic Preservation Program. She received the Founders Award for Civic Leadership from Partners for Livable Communities in 2013. She holds an honorary doctorate from Florida Southern College, and degrees in the history of art from the University of Florida and the Université de Paris-Sorbonne.

Nicholas Chambers is senior curator of modern and contemporary international art at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. He has previously held the positions of Milton Fine curator of art at The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh; adjunct professor at the University of Pittsburgh; and curator of contemporary international art at the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art. Chambers has organized numerous exhibitions, including solo shows of Martin Creed, Katharina Grosse, Spencer Finch, and Yasumasa Morimura; and projects by Casey Droege, Rivane Neuenschwander, Carsten Höller, and Céleste Boursier-Mougenot. He has been the curator and consultant on several important Andy Warhol exhibitions, and in 2014 he led the renovation and reorganization of The Andy Warhol Museum’s collection galleries. At the Queensland Art Gallery, Chambers made major acquisitions for the collection of post-1970 international art and contributed to the development of several large-scale group exhibitions, including “21st Century: Art in the First Decade,” 2010–2011 , and the 5th, 6th, and 7th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, 2006, 2009–2010, and 2012–2013. Chambers holds an MA and BA from the University of Sydney (1999 and 1996) and in 2005 was a guest fellow at the Yale Center for British Art, New Haven.

Rachel Cooper is the director of global performing arts and special cultural initiatives at Asia Society. She is widely recognized as a leader in the performing arts field, presenting traditional and contemporary works by Asian and Asian American artists within a strong cultural context. She is a frequent participant at major conferences and commentator in the media (CNN, ABC, WNYC, The New York Times), addressing Asian performing arts, international arts exchange, and cultural diplomacy. She has served as an advisor and panelist for major international projects and institutions in the U.S. and in Asia. She codirected the festival Muslim Voices: Arts and Ideas with colleagues from the Brooklyn Academy of Music and New York University in 2009. She has led the Asia Society’s initiative Creative Voices of Muslim Asia over the past eight years. She is the coauthor of Making a Difference Through the Arts: Strengthening America’s Links with Asian Muslim Communities, 2010. She received the Dawson Award for Programmatic Excellence from the Association of Performing Arts Presenters (APAP), a Borough of Manhattan Award for preserving cultural diversity in New York City, A l Global Citizen Diplomacy Award for best practices in presenting performing arts, and an “Izzy” (Isadora Duncan Award) for programming excellence for Festival of Indonesia in Performance. Cooper serves on the board of Cambodian Living Arts and Gamelan Sekar Jaya (the Balinese music and dance company that she also cofounded), and is an advisor for the Building Bridges project of APAP and the National Dance Project of the New England Foundation for the Arts (NEFA). From 1989 to 1993, she directed the Festival of Indonesia in Performance, touring over two hundred Indonesian artists across the U.S. She did her undergraduate and graduate studies at UCLA in World Arts and Cultures and Dance Ethnology.

Cosmin Costinas is the executive director and curator of Para Site, Hong Kong. He oversaw the relocation of Para Site in 2015 and organized several traveling exhibitions, including “Great Crescent: Art and Agitation in the 1960s—Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan” co-organized with Doryun Chong and Lesley Ma, Para Site, 2013, and Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, 2015; “A Journal of the Plague Year” cocurated with Inti Guerrero, Para Site, 2013, The Cube, Taipei, 2014, Arko Art Center, Seoul, 2014, and Kadist Art Foundation and The Lab, San Francisco, 2015; “Taiping Tianguo, A History of Possible Encounters: Ai Weiwei, Frog King Kwok, Tehching Hsieh, and Martin Wong in New York” co-organized with Doryun Chong, Para Site, 2012, and SALT, Istanbul, 2013; NUS Museum, Singapore, 2013, and e-flux, New York, 2014. Costinas was cocurator of the 10th Shanghai Biennale, 2014–2015; curator at BAK (basis voor actuele kunst), Utrecht, 2008–2011; cocurator of the 1st Ural Industrial Biennial, Ekaterinburg, 2010; and editor of documenta 12 magazines, 2005–2007. At BAK, Costinas was the curator of “In the Middle of Things: Olga Chernysheva,” 2011; “I, the Undersigned: Rabih Mroué,” BAK, Iniva, London, and Lund Konsthall, 2011; tranzitdisplay, Prague, 2011, and Württembergischer Kunstverein, Stuttgart, 2011; and “Expo Zero: Boris Charmatz,” 2010.

Vishakha N. Desai is senior advisor for global affairs, Office of the President of Columbia University and senior research scholar at its School of International and Public Affairs. She also serves as senior advisor for global programs to the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation. From 1990 through 2012, Desai served in various capacities at Asia Society, including director of its museum, and president and CEO of the organization. A renowned scholar of Asian art, Desai is acknowledged for her leadership in presenting contemporary Asian art to American audiences and developing innovative approaches to shaping the relationship between culture and foreign policy in Asia. In addition to featured articles and numerous editorials, Desai’s major publications include Asian Art History in the Twenty-First Century (2008), Gods, Guardians, and Lovers: Temple Sculpture from North India, A.D. 700–1200 (1993), and Life at Court: Art for India’s Rulers, 16th–19th Centuries (1985). A recipient of five honorary degrees, Desai holds a BA in political science from Bombay University and an MA and PhD in Asian art history from the University of Michigan.

Sarah Kenderdine, a former maritime archaeologist and museum curator, is currently professor and director of the Laboratory for Innovation in Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museums (iGLAM) and director of visualisation at the Expanded Perception and Interaction Centre (EPICentre) at the University of New South Wales. She also holds an ongoing role as head of special projects at Museum Victoria. Before joining UNSW, she was director of research at the Applied Laboratory for Interactive Visualization and Embodiment (ALiVE) at City University of Hong Kong. Her research is at the forefront of interactive and immersive experiences for museums and galleries, amalgamating tangible and intangible cultural heritage with new media art practice in the realms of interactive cinema, augmented reality, and embodied narrative. In the last ten years she has created over eighty installations and exhibitions, including the award-winning Place-Hampi, which is an embodied theater of participation in this South Indian site, and Pure Land, which explores Cave 220 in Dunhuang, China. Her published works include Place-Hampi: Inhabiting the Panoramic Imaginary of Vijayanagara (2013) and Theorizing Digital Cultural Heritage: A Critical Discourse (2007). In 2015, she completed a coauthored monograph titled Theorizing Digital Cultural Heritage for a Complex, Turbulent and Entangled World.

Hongnam Kim was the director general of the National Museum of Korea from 2006 to 2008, where she oversaw twelve national museums. Previously she was the director of the National Folk Museum of Korea, professor of art history and museum director at Ewha Womans University, and curator of the Rockefeller Collection at Asia Society. She began her career in Asian art at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Throughout her career, she has been the curator of numerous significant exhibitions and has published widely on Chinese and Korean art. She helped develop new museums in Korea as chief advisor to Samsung Cultural Foundation and while serving on the City Planning Committee of Seoul. A president and trustee of the National Trust of Korea, she has passionately promoted heritage preservation. She served on the board of the Executive Council of ICOM (International Council of Museums), and currently sits on the Asian Art Council of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, the International Council of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the Global Council of Asia Society, New York. She received the French National Order of the Legion of Honor for her contribution to French–Korean cultural exchange. Kim received her PhD in Asian art history from Yale University in 1985.

Vasif Kortun is the director of research and programs of SALT in Istanbul and Ankara. He works in the field of visual and spatial practices and the institutions that support them. Kortun is a member of the Board of Directors for Foundation for Arts Initiatives, the International Committee for Museums and Collections of Modern Art (CIMAM), and the Advisory Board of Asia Art Archive. A recipient of the Award for Curatorial Excellence from Bard College, he was the founding director of a number of institutions, including the Platform Garanti Contemporary Art Center, Istanbul; Proje 4L/Elgiz Museum of Contemporary Art, Istanbul; and the Hessel Museum of Art, Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson. Kortun has worked on a number of major biennial projects, including Taipei Biennial, with Manray Hsu, 2008; and the 9th International Istanbul Biennial, with Charles Esche, 2005.

Richard Kurin is the Smithsonian’s acting provost and under secretary for museums and research, responsible for oversight of all of the Institution’s national museums, its collections, and its scientific research centers. Kurin began work at the Smithsonian in 1976 and for decades directed the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, overseeing the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, and other cultural programs. Kurin served on the U.S. National Commission for UNESCO and helped draft an international treaty on safeguarding the world’s living cultural heritage now ratified by more than 160 nations. He led U.S. and international efforts to rescue Haiti’s cultural heritage following the devastating 2010 earthquake and oversees similar efforts to help save heritage in other nations. Kurin serves on numerous boards and as liaison to the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities. He has been honored by the International Council of Museums, Harvard University’s Peabody Museum, and the American Anthropological Association, and is an elected fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. A former Fulbright fellow, Kurin earned his doctorate in anthropology from the University of Chicago and taught at The Johns Hopkins University’s Nitze School of Advanced International Studies. He is the author of several books, the most recent, The Smithsonian’s History of America in 101 Objects.

Wai Kit Lee, founder of Western China Cultural Ecology Research Workshop, has long been engaged in the preservation of minority cultures in western China. He participated in the founding of the Longli Fort Ecomuseum and Tang’an Dong Ecomuseum, which were collaborations between Chinese and Norwegian museologists. In 2005, Lee founded the Dimen Dong Eco-Museum, which established the village of Dimen in Guizhou as a site to preserve traditional knowledge and culture. He has published two music albums, Miao Folk Music: People and Nature in Harmony (2006) and Dong Folk Music: People and Nature in Harmony (2003), and a catalogue titled Long Li Fort Ecomuseum (2004).

Peggy Loar currently serves as president of International Museum Planning Consultants, a boutique advisory services firm. Prior to this role she was the interim vice president for global arts and culture at Asia Society, New York. Before her appointment at Asia Society, as interim director and president of the Corcoran Gallery of Art and College of Art and Design in Washington, D.C., she facilitated the merger of the Corcoran with the National Gallery of Art and George Washington University. Loar served as the founding director (2008–2012) of the National Museum of Qatar, Doha. She was the founding president and director of the Wolfsonian Museum and Research Center, Miami and Genoa; and Copia: The American Center for Wine, Food, and the Arts in Napa. Previously Loar held positions as director of the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Services (SITES), where she was awarded the Smithsonian Gold Medal for Distinguished Service; the first program director of the Institute of Museum Services (now IMLS); and curator of education and assistant director of the Indianapolis Museum of Art. For eight years she was president of the U.S. International Council of Museums (ICOM), headquartered with UNESCO in Paris.

Hammad Nasar was the head of research and programmes at Asia Art Archive and a curator and writer in Hong Kong. Formerly based in London, Nasar cofounded the nonprofit arts organization Green Cardamom, and has been the curator of numerous exhibitions and programs internationally, including “Lines of Control: Partition as a Productive Space,” Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, Ithaca, 2012, and Nasher Museum, Duke University, Durham, 2013–2014; “Where Three Dreams Cross: 150 Years of Photography from India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh,” Whitechapel Gallery, London, 2010, and Fotomuseum Winterthur, 2010; “Safavids Revisited,” British Museum, London, 2009; and “Karkhana: A Contemporary Collaboration,” Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Ridgefield, 2005–2006, and Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, 2006. Nasar serves in an advisory capacity for a number of arts organizations around the world, including the Alserkal Avenue, Dubai; Delfina Foundation, London; and Rhode Island School of Design, Providence. He serves on the Editorial Board of Tate’s journal, Tate Etc., and is a jury member for both the Victoria and Albert Museum’s Jameel Prize and Art Basel’s crowd-funding partnership with Kickstarter.

Fairouz Nishanova has served as director of the Aga Khan Music Initiative at the Geneva-based Trust for Culture since 2005. The Initiative was launched by His Highness the Aga Khan to support talented musicians and music educators working to preserve, transmit, and further develop their musical heritage in contemporary forms. Beginning its work in Central Asia, the Initiative subsequently expanded its focus to include the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia. Since joining the Aga Khan Development Network in 2000, Nishanova has been closely involved in its interagency activities aimed at social and cultural development. A cultural development specialist with a lifelong love for performing arts, music, and dance in the many styles and traditions from the places where she has lived and traveled, Nishanova began her career at the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation and continued at the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe. Born in Sri Lanka to Uzbek parents, she grew up in Amman, Jordan, and studied economics, history, and international relations at Moscow State University and the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Ong Keng Sen is the festival director of the new Singapore International Festival of Arts, and currently on leave from his role as the artistic director of TheatreWorks. A performance director, Ong creates works that have been presented at international venues, including Lincoln Center, New York; Edinburgh International Festival; Tanzquartier Vienna; Centre National de la Danse, Paris; iDANS International Contemporary Dance and Performance Festival, Istanbul; Festival Panorama, Rio de Janeiro; Adelaide Festival of Arts; Hong Kong Arts Festival; and Theatre Cocoon, Tokyo. Ong mentors emerging artists and founded the Arts Network Asia to award microgrants for collaborations across borders. He has served on the jury for the Prince Claus Awards in Amsterdam since 2012. From 2001 to 2003, he created and directed the InTRANSIT Festival in Berlin. A Fulbright scholar, he was awarded the Fukuoka Asian Culture Prize in 2010 for his work in Asian contemporary performance, and is the first Singaporean artist to have received the Cultural Medallion, 2003, and the Young Artist Award, 1992. He completed his postgraduate studies at Tisch School of the Arts, New York University, and also holds an LLB from the National University of Singapore.

Helen Philon, an archaeologist and scholar, participated in archaeological excavations in Iran and worked in Iraq and Syria before focusing her intellectual interests on India. She has published many works and established herself as a leading expert in the field. While studying the Deccan region for her doctoral dissertation, Philon developed the desire to preserve its monuments and ancient architecture for posterity. Her vision grew from an affinity for places, like the Deccan, which serve as crossroads or meeting points between different identities and different worlds. With George Michell, her colleague at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, an expert on India, and Mary Anne Cordeiro, a scientist, Philon helped found the Deccan Heritage Foundation and now sits on the Board of Trustees of both the English and the U.S. foundations. Philon received an MPh in pre-Islamic art and presented her PhD thesis on the architecture of the Bahmani dynasty in the Deccan from SOAS, University of London.

Phloeun Prim is the executive director of Cambodian Living Arts (CLA), Phnom Penh. A visionary cultural entrepreneur, he has spearheaded CLA’s transformation from a grassroots project reviving traditional arts to the leading cultural agency in Cambodia. He has led the organization to extend its reach from local to international programming, and to evolve its role from merely recording traditions to stimulating innovation. The major Season of Cambodia festival in New York in 2013, a project involving 125 artists and 34 presenting partners, symbolizes the capacity that Prim has brought to CLA during his tenure. Prim is regularly invited to present at and participate in influential global dialogues relating to arts and development, from the Aspen Institute to Salzburg Global Seminar. In 2016, CLA brought cultural leaders from around the world to Phnom Penh for a major international forum, “Living Arts in Post-Conflict Contexts: Practices, Partnerships, and Possibilities.” Previously, Prim led the commercial development of Artisans Angkor, an organization selling high-end handicrafts. Born during the genocide, he fled Cambodia with his family and immigrated to Canada; however, Prim is proud to have returned to Cambodia and to be a part of the movement to use the arts for healing, social transformation, and economic development.

Ahmad Naser Sarmast is the founder and director of the Afghanistan National Institute of Music (ANIM). He is a member of the Musicological Society of Australia and the Union of Artists’ Association of Afghanistan, and an honorary fellow of the National College of Music and Arts, London. He has conducted research on the music of Afghanistan since 1993 and published the landmark book A Survey of the History of Music in Afghanistan (2009). His research interests also include music of northern India, central Asia, and Iran. His paper, “Music in Afghanistan Today: A Report on Fieldwork Conducted in Late 2005” (2006), provided the framework for the Revival of Afghan Music project and became the basis for ANIM. Dr. Sarmast received a PhD in Music from Monash University, Melbourne, and an MA in musicology and ethnomusicology and a BA in performance and music education from the Moscow State Conservatory. He was awarded Honorary Membership of the Royal Philharmonic Society of the United Kingdom and received the Education Award from the government of Afghanistan. A native of Afghanistan, Sarmast is the son of the late Afghan composer, conductor, and musician Ustad Salim Sarmast.

Rajeev Sethi, founder of The Asian Heritage Foundation in New Delhi, has had a more than forty-five-year career spanning multiple creative disciplines. In 2002, he was the scenographer and production partner for the 36th Annual Smithsonian Folklife Festival, The Silk Road: Connecting Cultures, Creating Trust. He designed participatory installations for the Universal Forum of Cultures in Barcelona in 2004, and the Basic Needs Pavilion at Expo 2000 in Hannover. His film and theater credits include art directing Joan Littlewood’s Bijou, art advising Peter Brook’s Mahabharata, and directing Ariane Mnouchkine’s L’Inde de père en fils, de mere en fille. He was the curator for installations at the Jaya He, GVK New Museum in the Mumbai International Airport, and conceived JIYO, a World Bank program to improve the livelihoods of rural Indian artisans. In 1985, Sethi worked on three Smithsonian Institution exhibitions, “India: Mela!,” “Aditi: A Celebration of Life,” and “The Golden Eye: An International Tribute to the Artisans of India.” Sethi received the first INTACH Indira Gandhi Lifetime Achievement Award for Conservation of Cultural Heritage in 2010, the Order of Merit from the Federal Republic of Germany in 2001, and the National Order of the Padma Bhushan from the President of India in 1985.

Boon Hui Tan is vice president for global arts and cultural programs, and director of Asia Society Museum, New York, where he leads the organization’s global arts and cultural activities. He oversees Asia Society Museum’s acclaimed exhibition programs and the Asia Society Museum collection, which comprises the Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd Collection of traditional Asian art and the contemporary art collection of photography and new media works by Asian and Asian American artists. Additionally, he directs the organization’s initiative Transfuze: The Asia Arts and Museum Network. Prior to this, he was assistant chief executive for museum and programs at the National Heritage Board (NHB) in Singapore, overseeing exhibitions, programs, and outreach events across the Board’s museums, institutions, and divisions. He was artistic director for the 2015 Singapour en France, le Festival, the largest multidisciplinary presentation of contemporary culture from Singapore and Southeast Asia in France, and is a founding board member of the International Biennial Association. As director of the Singapore Art Museum from 2009 to 2013, he led the transformation of the museum into a contemporary art institution focused on Southeast Asia and assembled the largest public collection of contemporary art from the region. He conceived the regional focus and group curating approach of the groundbreaking Singapore Biennale 2013: If The World Changed, as well as serving as its project director and cocurator.

Timothy P. Whalen is the third director of the Getty Conservation Institute (GCI), a position he has held since December 1998. He became the senior program officer at the Getty Foundation, overseeing the Foundation’s conservation grant-making activities in 1991. His career at the Getty dates to 1983 when he was appointed assistant director of the Getty Center for the History of Art and the Humanities (now Getty Research Institute), before he assumed the role of associate director of the Getty Building Program. Whalen is a trustee of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, a member of the International Advisory Board for the Courtauld Institute of Art’s MA program in the conservation of wall painting, and a former member of the U.S. National Commission for UNESCO. A California native, he holds a BA in art history as well as an MA in museum studies and art history from the University of Southern California, Los Angeles.

Winnie Yeung is head of heritage at The Jockey Club Central Police Station Limited. The company was set up by The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust with a mandate to conserve the Central Police Station Compound in Hong Kong and transform it into a center for heritage, contemporary art, and leisure. The more than three-acre site comprises a cluster of sixteen buildings of historical significance and open spaces, with two new buildings designed by Herzog & de Meuron. The compound is scheduled to open in 2016. Yeung is in charge of devising heritage exhibitions, interpretive showcases, and education programs at the revitalized site. Previously, Yeung was the heritage manager for the UNESCO-awarded Tai O Heritage Hotel and participated in other heritage projects in Hong Kong and Singapore. She specializes in heritage interpretation, education, and community engagement. Prior to entering the field of heritage conservation, Yeung was a journalist for periodicals, including South China Morning Post and HK Magazine, covering a variety of topics such as arts and culture and local news. She is a trained architectural conservationist with an MSc from the Architectural Conservation Programme at The University of Hong Kong.

Louis Yu joined the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority in 2010. As the executive director, performing arts, he is responsible for the planning, design, and construction of performing arts facilities, formulation of strategies, mode of governance, programming, and engagement of stakeholders. He formerly served as the chief executive of the Hong Kong Arts Development Council. Previously he worked with the Hong Kong Arts Centre for thirteen years where he was the executive director from 2000 to 2007. Yu has almost three decades of experience in arts administration and management.