The Curatorial and Design department supports initiatives — including research, exhibitions and publishing — that help to build respectful relationships and mutual understanding with cultural communities represented through MOA’s collections.

MOA’s curators are actively involved in a wide range of individual and collaborative research projects. These have resulted in the development of protocols and Memoranda of Understanding with partner communities, innovative exhibitions, journal and book publications, community workshops, research opportunities and conference presentations. They serve the university by teaching and giving guest lectures at MOA, participating as members of graduate-student committees, training interns and working closely with colleagues in other departments. They also serve the broader community by responding to information requests from the public, regularly giving curatorial tours of the galleries, facilitating community research visits and representing MOA at diverse public events, exhibition openings and ceremonies throughout the Lower Mainland.

The curators are responsible for the documentation and development of MOA’s collections; their work with originating communities aims to help revitalize the connections between objects, people and knowledge. Specific areas of curatorial expertise and collections responsibility are included in the listing below. Related tasks in collections development include working closely with donors during the acquisitions process, researching potential acquisitions and organizing evaluations for tax receipts.

Department members

• Karen Duffek, Curator, Contemporary Visual Arts + Pacific Northwest (Department Head)
• Skooker Broome, Exhibition Designer
• Jennifer Kramer, Curator, Pacific Northwest
• Carol E. Mayer, Senior Curator, Pacific + World Ceramics
• Fuyubi Nakamura, Curator, Asia
• Nuno Porto, Curator, Africa + South America
• Susan Rowley, Curator, Arctic + Public Archaeology