Creating Inclusive Cultural Spaces: How Salma Tuqan is Transforming Arts Institution Leadership
Episode 71
13 January, 2025

In this episode Ceri is joined by Salma Tuqan, a Palestinian curator, cultural strategist, and Director of Nottingham Contemporary. With a career spanning continents and disciplines, Salma brings a deeply thoughtful and inclusive approach to cultural leadership—rooted in collaboration, generosity, and long-term vision.

Raised between Kuwait and London, Salma’s journey is shaped by a rich cultural heritage and a global perspective. She held influential roles at institutions including Art Dubai and the V&A, where she helped embed Middle Eastern art across departments rather than confining it to a single curatorial space. Today, at Nottingham Contemporary, she leads a team of 70, overseeing exhibitions, live programmes, and community engagement initiatives with remarkable grace and insight.

Salma also serves on numerous international advisory boards, from the Arab Image Foundation in Beirut to NuMu in Guatemala City, championing networks that foster cultural exchange and socially engaged art.

In this conversation, she reflects on the evolving responsibilities of museums and cultural institutions—not only to present work, but to care for it, activate it, and ensure it continues to serve communities well into the future.

What We Learned from Salma Tuqan

1. Leadership is a collective act
   Salma’s approach to leading Nottingham Contemporary highlights the power of collaboration. She’s passionate about co-creation, valuing the input and energy of those around her to shape meaningful cultural experiences.
2. Curation doesn’t end with acquisition
   Salma reminded us that the story of an artwork doesn’t stop once it enters a collection. Thinking about its “afterlife”—how it’s stored, interpreted, and shared—is central to her ethical, inclusive curatorial practice.
3. Concepts can be collected too
   Her examples of acquiring works where the idea, rather than a tangible object, is what’s preserved, challenge traditional museum models. This opens the door to more experimental, socially rooted, and dynamic ways of thinking about collections.
4. The personal is political in curating
   Working across politically sensitive contexts, Salma spoke to the challenges and responsibilities that come with navigating identity, place, and power in institutional settings. Her care and integrity in these situations were palpable.
5. Mentorship and generosity matter
   Salma’s deep commitment to mentorship and community-building underlines the value of supporting others in the field. Her ethos encourages us all to look beyond ourselves and invest in others’ growth.

This episode is an invitation to rethink how cultural institutions operate and whom they serve. Salma Tuqan’s vision offers a model for thoughtful, future-focused leadership grounded in ethics, empathy, and imagination.