COURTESY RUBIN MUSEUM OF ART
The Rubin Museum of Art announced today that Risha Lee has been hired as curator of exhibitions. Currently the assistant curator of South and Southeast Asian art at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Lee is known for her research on the confluence of politics and art on the South Asian region. Her doctoral dissertation, completed at Columbia University in 2012, focused on the exchange of art and ideas between China and India, as seen specifically through 9th- to 13th-century Tamil merchants.
At the MIA, Lee worked on several exhibitions about cross-cultural dynamics in South Asia. One such exhibition was 2014’s “Imperial Nature: Flora, Fauna, and Colonialism in India,” which focused on commissions by Indian princes and European colonialists in the 17th and 18th centuries. Lee also acquired art for the MIA’s permanent collection in her two years there.
In a statement, Patrick Sears, the Rubin’s executive director, praised Lee’s passion for art and ideas of the Himalayan region. “Risha’s energy, expertise, and leadership will help shape the exhibition program at the Rubin, connecting new audiences to the Himalayan region—and beyond, including India and China,” Sears said. “Her extensive research on the cross-cultural exchange of art, people, and ideas integrates well with our mission, and we’re thrilled she is joining our team.”
Correction, 6/8/15, 5:20 p.m.: An earlier version of this article stated that Lee did research on art on politics in the Himalayan region. Her research focused on South Asia.