LEEZA AHMADY

Born in Afghanistan and raised as a young teenager in the United States, Ahmady is an independent art curator, educator, and a noted specialist in art from Central Asia. For over ten years, Ahmady has designed unique gallery spaces all over New York, implementing innovative programs that welcome varied art forms. She is also Director of Asian Contemporary Art Week (ACAW) at Asia Society, an annual citywide event showcasing artists at leading Museums and galleries across New York City.
 
She has traveled widely in Central Asia as part of her ongoing curatorial project promoting the largely unknown artists of the region in various international art forums, including the Venice Biennale, Istanbul Biennale, and Asia Art Archive, Hong Kong. Recently she curated The Taste Of Others, at Apexart in 2005, The Paradox of Polarity: Contemporary Art from Central Asia at Bose Pacia in 2007, Parable of the Garden: 
New Media Art from Iran & Central Asia at The College of New Jersey Art Gallery, I Dream of the Stans at Winkleman Gallery, which traveled to MARTE Museo de Arte de El Salvador in 2008, and Tarjama/Translation at the Queens Museum of Art in 2009.
 
Ahmady performs and teaches a combination of Afghan and Indian dance practices and is a founding member of two non-profit organizations: NURTURArt Non Profit (USA) and School of Hope (USA/Afghanistan). She is an advisor to arts organizations in Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and Tajikistan, and the newly established Center for Contemporary Arts Afghanistan (CCAA). Her writings have been published in Asia Art Archive, Art Asia Pacific and Flash Art Magazine among other publications.