LISBON.- Beatrice Leanza is the new Executive Director of the Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology (MAAT). A curator and critic born in Italy and with a solid professional career since 2002, Beatrice Leanza was chosen through an invitation after a series of interviews with several candidates.

The EDP Foundation chose someone with a diverse background in the fields of art, design and architecture and an extensive experience in project and team management, having decided to change MAAT’s internal organisation with the new executive director and a curatorial council.

Holding an MA (Master’s in Arts) in Asian Studies from Ca ’Foscari University (Venice) and with a dissertation thesis on contemporary art in China, Beatrice Leanza started her career in Beijing as a curator at CAAW (China Art Archives and Warehouse), the seminal alternative art space created by the artist Ai Weiwei. She later founded the research practice BAO Atelier, a unique China-based think-tank fostering encounters across the visual arts, design and architecture and active across Europe and Asia.

From 2013 to 2016, she was the creative director of Beijing Design Week turning it into the largest and internationally best reputed design and architecture event in the region, while acting as chief curator of the ongoing research programme Across Chinese Cities, presented in 2014, 2016, 2018 at the Venice Architecture Biennale.
In 2017 she co-founded B/Side Design, an international organization developing and implementing strategies of urban and social impact which has spearheaded the establishment of The Global School - China’s first independent institute dedicated to design & creative research.

She is a member of the international advisory board of Design Trust (Hong Kong) and was selected as a Young European Leader Class 2018, a think-tank promoted by the Friend of Europe Foundation based in Brussels.


Leanza’s own writings and past projects have appeared in a number of international publications such as Frieze, Artforum, CNN Style, Domus, Dezeen, Disegno magazine, The Guardian, Frame, Flash Art, Abitare, Blueprint Magazine, Metropolis, T Magazine (The NYTimes), Liberation/NEXT, The Good Life, among many others, including specialized Chinese press.

The EDP Foundation believes that Leanza’s approach in the exploration of new practical and conceptual relations among art, design and architecture, as well as her experience in the implementation of cultural strategies of community involvement and participation, will be decisive to MAAT’s consolidation as a cultural institution.
The new Executive Director starts her position on September 2nd, and the Curatorial Council’s composition will be announced soon.