Sam Bardaouil is a curator, art historian and performance practitioner who lives and works in New York, Munich and Beirut. He has lectured in art history, theater practice and Middle Eastern studies at a number of universities, including the American University of Beirut, the American University in Dubai and the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University. He has curated numerous exhibitions such as Told/Untold/Retold at the Mathaf Arab Museum of Modern Art in Doha, Art for Rent, a site specific performance art happening in Dubai in collaboration with IPG New York, SPACE-­‐tacular at the Fondazione Volume in Rome and Fusion at the Goethe Institute in Berlin/Abu Dhabi, both in collaboration with Tashkeel in Dubai, ItaliaArabia and Iran Inside Out at the Chelsea Art Museum in New York. In addition, Sam collaborated on creating partnerships and public programs with renowned arts organizations such as Sotheby's, The Nasser D. Khalili Collection, The New York Public Library, Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet, Rooftop Films, Artnet, Dubai Culture and Arts Authority, The Farjam Collection Hafiz Foundation and many others. Sam is also a theater practitioner with substantial experience as an actor, director and writer. The feature film “Here Comes the Rain”, for which Sam co-­‐wrote the screenplay, was recently awarded the Best Narrative Film from the Arab World Prize at the Abu Dhabi Film Festival. In his research, Sam has been advancing a notion of “Transmodernity” to outline an alternative art critical paradigm to postcolonial theory. Sam’s heightened awareness of issues relating to cultural stereotyping has constantly informed his curatorial practice. He steers away from the conventional repertoire of themes and forms that viewers might expect from artists coming out form the Arab world and the greater Middle East, and his approach to exhibition conception and design is very much enhanced by his wide-­‐
ranging experience as a theater practitioner. In 2009, he and Till Fellrath co-­‐founded Art Reoriented, a curatorial platform that focuses on contemporary art connected to the Middle East operating from New York and Munich.