Dana Khalil Ibrahim

Biography

Dana is a museum curator working in Abu Dhabi. Her most recent role was as Arts Manager at Abu Dhabi Music and Arts Foundation, where Dana engaged visitors in an immersive experience through exhibitions and projects. Dana’s responsibilities included developing and managing the art collection, loans and working on exhibitions both internally and externally. A focus of her role was managing projects in collaboration with local and international partners, alongside working on grant awards in conjunction with the Education and Community department.

Dana is primarily interested in researching contemporary arts in the gulf area, recognising the changes that led to the shift from traditional to contemporary art, which was sometimes opposed with culture and religion. She recently worked on the exhibition, ‘Portrait of a Nation II: Beyond Narratives’, that sets out to explore the contributions of artists working in the United Arab Emirates for over a half-century of relentless transformation.

At the British Museum

During Dana’s time on the International Training Programme she spent time in whole group sessions for a detailed overview of all aspects of the Museum’s work, both front of house and behind the scenes. Dana also spent time in the Middle East department. She spent her partner placement at National Museums Northern Ireland.

Dana worked with the ITP 2022 participants to develop a 15-object trail based on a story they wanted to share based around the British Museum collection. The theme of the trail was food and drink and Dana’s chosen object was a magic bowl.

Dana’s place on the International Training Programme was generously supported by the John S Cohen Foundation.