The Future of Cultural Engagement

Michael Brand joined the Art Gallery of New South Wales as Director in June 2012. Prior to his appointment, he was consulting director of the new Aga Khan Museum under construction in Toronto and which opened in 2014. Previous positions include; director of the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, (2005–2010); director of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond (2000–2005); assistant director of the curatorial and collection development at the Queensland Art Gallery in Brisbane (1996–2000); curator of Asian art at the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra (1988–1996); and co-director of the Smithsonian Institution Mughal Garden Project in Lahore, Pakistan (1988–1993). Dr Brand currently serves on the Visiting Committee of the Harvard Art Museums, the International Advisory Board of the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, the Board of Trustees of the Australian Institute of Art History and is a member of the Asia Society Australia Advisory Council.

Ben Quilty is one of Australia's most important contemporary artists and winner of the 2011 Archibald prize.