In honor of last week’s Art Basel, we’d like to celebrate one of the most successful female curators in the world. Our Queen Sheva of the week, Adeline Ooi, is making it to the top— one painting at a time.
Malaysian-born curator and art advisor Adeline Ooi recently reaped the benefits of a lifetime’s hard work. This year, she became Asia director for Art Basel after two years as Art Basel’s VIP Relations Manager for Southeast Asia and several other previous positions. Smart, multi-cultural (she speaks more than five languages, including English, Mandarin, Cantonese and Tagalog), sophisticated and incredibly talented, Adeline Ooi led a breakthrough edition of Hongkong’s Art Basel earlier this March.
Evidently, a position as prestigious as any Art Basel director doesn’t come so easily. A top student, Adeline moved to England during her college years to study fine arts at Central Saint Martins in London. She then returned to Malaysia in the 1990s and worked in several art galleries in Kuala Lumpur. Adeline joined the Valentine Willie Fine Art Gallery in 2000, and by 2006 was its curator and program director!
Adeline’s decision to move back to Malaysia came with a desire to propagate Asian art throughout the world and promote a heritage she’s extremely proud of. Her passion and drive eventually led Art Basel’s executive team to name her Asia Director. Although it was her first time being at the helm of such a large event, Adeline was celebrated for having created one of the most successful Art Basel’s ever. One of her main goals was to allow the public to differentiate between Asian art and that way understand the cultures behind it.
Art Basel Hong Kong
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Now based in Hong Kong, Adeline Ooi continues to prove just how talented female directors can be. In a recent interview, Ooi stated that she believes that there are several female leaders around the world that have “carved quite a strong territory for themselves”, paying homage to one of our previous Queen Shevas, Yayoi Kusama. A Queen with a passion for art and a thirst for Asian culture, Adeline is now part of the female empowerment movement. And here at Sheva we’re more than happy to celebrate #GirlBosses who are making a positive change.
