Art historian, art critic and exhibition curator, Jean-François Chevrier has been a Professor of History of Contemporary Art at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris since 1988. He was the founder and editor-in-chief of the magazine Photographies (1982-85), general advisor for the Documenta X (1997).

Through 30 years, his main areas of interest have been the interface between art and literature in the twentieth century, history of photography, art since the 1960’s and architecture. Exhibitions and catalogues he has curated and co-edited include Une autre objectivité / Another Objectivity (London, Paris, Prato, 1988-9), Photo-Kunst (Stuttgart, Nantes, 1989-90), Walker Evans & Dan Graham (Rotterdam, Marseille, Münster, New York, 1992-4), Des Territoires (Paris, 2001), Art and Utopia: Limited Action and Modern Art according to Mallarmé (Barcelona, Nantes, 2004-5). He is currently preparing an exhibition on biographical forms in modern art (Madrid, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, autumn 2013).

Among his recent publications is a monograph on Jeff Wall (Paris: Hazan, 2006) and an expanded edition of his 1982 book, Proust et la photographie (Paris: L’Arachnéen, 2009).

A seven-volume anthology of his writings is in the process of being published by Editions L’Arachnéen: La Trame et le hasard ; Entre les beaux-arts et les medias: photographie et art moderne; Walker Evans dans le temps et dans l’histoire (March 2010). Des territoires ; Les Relations du corps (January 2011); L’Hallucination artistique. De William Blake à Sigmar Polke (spring 2012). Œuvre et activité (2013).

Deborah Swallow, Märit Rausing Director at the Courtauld Institute of Art since 2004, gathered her museum experience first at the Cambridge University Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology and then at the Victoria and Albert Museum where she was the Keeper of the Asian Department and Director of Collections. Her first degree was in English literature which she read at New Hall, University of Cambridge, but her PhD was in Social Anthropology at Darwin College, Cambridge.

It was when she taught for a year in India that she developed a deep interest in the arts, culture and religions of the subcontinent, initially explored through the discipline of social anthropology and, subsequently, as a curator. As head of the then Indian Department at the V&A, Swallow oversaw the creation of the Nehru Gallery of Art and a series of major exhibitions on the arts of different regions and communities in the subcontinent, and established close relationships both with the South Asian communities in the UK and colleagues and institutions in the subcontinent. She continues to work on issues relating to the arts and cultural heritage in contemporary India.

The Courtauld Institute of Art, founded in 1932 as an Institute of London University, became an independent college of the University in 2002. It is one of the world’s premier institutions for the research and study of the history of art, architecture and conservation, and holds internationally important collections of European fine and applied arts from the 14th to the 20th centuries. Its alumni include distinguished art historians, critically acclaimed artists and poets, art dealers, journalists and heads of major museums and galleries throughout the world.

Founding Director of the Singapore Art Museum and of the National Art Gallery, Singapore, Kwok Kian Chow is currently the Senior Advisor to the Board and CEO of the National Art Gallery, Singapore. Kwok focuses on museology, curatorial development and art world relations in his work for the Gallery. A museum and community development veteran, Kwok is also a scholar in museology, Southeast Asian and Chinese modern and contemporary art history, and has published two monographs and numerous essays on the subjects. Kwok’s current research, writing and consultation focus is on museology and art history in a transnational context, including museum developmental models, curatorship, and museum activism as a platform for cultural development, linking local cultures and heritage with transnational and ‘global’ art forms and practices. An influential voice in the art museum sector in Asia, he helped initiate the Asian Art Museum Directors’ Forum (AAMDF). As a Board Member of ICOM International Committee of Modern Art Museums and Collections, he played a key role in organising the CIMAM Annual Conference, ‘Common Grounds for Museums in Global Society’ in Shanghai in 2010. Kwok is also a co-founder of the Bali Conversations on Contemporary Art conference series. Kwok is an active member of many public art and academic boards and committees including the Asian Art Council of the Guggenheim Museum (New York), Kolkata Museum of Modern Art (India), China Art Foundation (London), Academic Committee of the Collectors of Contemporary Chinese Art Annual Conference (China), Sculpture Square, UOB Group Art Committee, Singapore Press Holdings Chinese Newspapers and the Public Art Review Panel of the Land Transport Authority, Singapore. Kwok was awarded the Public Administration Silver Medal by Singapore in 2003, Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by France in 2002 and Officier of the Order in 2009.