Asma Naeem becomes the first Pakistani to lead American Art Museum

In the 109-year history of Baltimore's Museum of Modern Art, Asma Naeem is the first person of Pakistani origin and person of color to hold the position of director.

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She will succeed Christopher Bedford, who left the institution last year to become the director of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

In a statement, Naeem said that there was "a tremendous opportunity as we move forward to bring a greater depth of local and global voices into the dialogues about the history and evolution of art, about museums as community spaces, and about the relationship between internal culture and external experience—and in doing so create meaningful change in the field."

“I am looking forward to working with the exceptional team here and with our many current and future collaborators.”

In a profile of her published in The Baltimore Banner in September of last year, it was stated that Asma Naeem "knew she wanted to do something to counter the optics it produced when she learned that then-President Donald Trump's photograph would be placed in the National Portrait Gallery. She then placed a portrait of the late rapper Tupac Shakur, one of Baltimore's best-known native sons, just across from it.