The Curatorial Roundtable, an international forum for curators and institutional leaders to discuss formative and current projects, is hosted by Steven Henry Madoff, Founding Chair of the MA Curatorial Practice at the School of Visual Arts in New York City.

Currently working between New York and Berlin as curator-at-large for Performa, Defne Ayas has previously served as a director, co-director, curator, and advisor to several cultural institutions and research initiatives, including Kunstinstituut Melly (formerly known as Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art) (2012-2017), Arthub Asia, the New Museum, and V-A-C Foundation.  At Performa, Ayas recently presented Protest and Performance: A Way of Life (with Kathy Noble, 2023), which included performances by Gregg Bordowitz and Pamela Sneed, Rana Hamadeh, and Göksu Kunak. She also co-organized Sonic Tonic Assembly (with publics). Ayas co-curated the 13th Gwangju Biennale (with Ginwala) in 2021, the 6th Moscow Biennale in 2015, and the 11th Baltic Triennale in 2012. Ayas is a founding curator of Blind Dates (with Neery Melkonian), which addresses the traces of the peoples, places, and cultures that once constituted the diverse geography of the Ottoman Empire (1299-1922). Her latest curatorial endeavor, Sarkis: 7 Days, 7 Night, was on view at Kunsthalle Baden-Baden until February 2024. Register here.