The blooloop 50 museum influencer list 2020

A leading figure in the UAE cultural sector, Manal Ataya is a museology specialist with 15 years of senior managerial experience in museum development and cultural diplomacy.

Ataya has worked with Sharjah Museums Authority (SMA) for over 20 years. In her previous role of director general, she was responsible for the overall executive management of 16 museums in the emirate of Sharjah, UAE. These cover a broad range of subjects, including Islamic culture and history, contemporary art, heritage, maritime history, archaeology, science and children’s learning. She managed a team of over 600 staff working across Sharjah’s museums.

Responsible for implementing His Highness Sheikh Dr Sultan Bin Mohammed Al Qasimi’s directives for future museum and cultural heritage-related projects in Sharjah, her mandate included the strategic development of future museum projects, museum and cultural policy, fostering partnerships with international institutions, and leading efforts to deliver best practices in museum services.

In 2023, she moved into the role of advisor to SMA and to His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah.

As a highly sought-after speaker, Ataya delivers keynotes, presentations, and lectures worldwide on subjects such as museology, Arab art, cultural production, cultural heritage, and how culture acts as a catalyst for societal well-being and peacebuilding. She sits on various advisory boards, mentors upcoming museum professionals, and promotes the transformative power of arts and culture in strengthening social cohesion and community health.

Ataya has degrees from both Hamilton College and Harvard University and has been recognised by distinguished international leadership programs as a Clore fellow and an Aspen Institute fellow.

An American educator and historian, Lonnie G. Bunch III is the 14th Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, the world's largest museum and research complex.

Bunch was the founding director of the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) from 2005 to 2019. Before this he was president and director of the Chicago History Museum from 2000 to 2005. In the 1980s, he was the first curator at the California African American Museum, and then a curator at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, where in the 1990s, he rose to head curatorial affairs.

In the words of one of the many to nominate him, "Lonnie is helming the Smithsonian through multi-faceted crises, and is vocally and visibly engaging in the hard-hitting discourse our country needs around our racist past and present. He has positioned the Smithsonian to actively participate in these conversations, stating bluntly and repeatedly that this IS the role of a museum. A learned yet caring voice, Lonnie's leadership and humanity is a model for other museum executives".

A widely published author, Bunch's most recent book was A Fool’s Errand: Creating the National Museum of African American History and Culture in the Age of Bush, Obama, and Trump. This documents the making of the museum that would become one of the most popular destinations in Washington.

In 2019, he was awarded the Freedom Medal for his contribution to American culture as a historian and storyteller.

Catherine Franche is the Executive Director of Ecsite, the European network of science centres and museums.

Ecsite, the European network of science centres and museums, was created in 1990. Its  stated mission is to inspire and empower science centres, museums and all organisations that engage people with science, and to promote their actions. For close to fifteen years Franche has been its inspirational and charismatic Executive Director and has been instrumental in the organisation's growth and continued success.

Active in the field of science communication, Ecsite's approximately 350 members are science centres, museums, research bodies, festivals, universities and planetariums. Under Franche's leadership the annual Ecsite conference has grown to become the largest science engagement event in Europe. It now attracts over 1200 science centre professionals from over 60 countries.

Responding to the pandemic, Franche and her team have been a vital resource for members. Resources have included a Covid-19 resource page, a series of webinars and a couple of one-day educational conferences. All of these resources have been provided to members free of charge.

A skilled communicator in a multi-cultural and multi-linguistic environment, Franche holds an MBA in cultural management from HEC Montréal (Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales).

A professor of digital museology at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Lausanne, Switzerland, Professor Sarah Kenderdine researches at the forefront of interactive and immersive experiences for museums, galleries, libraries and archives.

Kenderdine is considered a pioneer in the fields of digital heritage and digital museology, and is a regular keynote speaker at related forums internationally, including the World Economic Forum (WEF).

She has built a new laboratory for experimental museology (eM+) at EPFL. This explores the convergence of aesthetic practice, visual analytics and cultural data. She also serves as the director and lead curator of EPFL’s new art/science initiative, inaugurated in 2016 as ArtLab. In addition, she develops interactive and immersive experiences for museums and galleries, often employing interactive cinema and augmented reality (AR).

Kenderdine has produced more than 80 exhibitions and installations for museums worldwide and has 35 peer-reviewed publications, including two books to her name. In addition to her museum exhibition work, Kenderdine conceives and designs large-scale immersive visualisation systems for public audiences, industry and researchers.

She curated the recent Deep Fakes: Art and its Double exhibition at EPFL, which she said was  “the culmination of several years of new creative practices emerging from the world of computer science". Kenderdine added: “It was only recently that artists and producers began to fully grasp the potential of computational production and new forms of art."  The exhibition showcased technologies disrupting the art world, including artificial intelligence (AI), computer vision, interactive and immersive media, and 3D and 5D printing.

Gail Lord is one of the world’s foremost museum planners. She is also an art critic, commentator, public speaker and co-author of six museum planning manuals and several books.

Lord co-founded Lord Cultural Resources with her husband Barry Lord in 1981 with the aim to deliver specialised planning services to the museum and cultural sector.

Since then, the firm has grown into one of the world’s leading cultural planning firms focused on museums, cultural districts and the creative economy. With headquarters in Toronto, it also has offices in New York, London, Mumbai and Beijing. It has now completed over 2,500 projects in 57 countries and 450 cities.

Lord has championed the idea of "Soft Power" and is an advocate of a close relationship between cities and museums, and the opportunity this gives museums to provide tangible public benefits. As such, she has worked with cities across the world to develop their museum hubs and cultural spaces, including Vienna, Salford, Bilbao, Chicago, Toronto, Ottawa and Johannesburg .

She also runs courses in cultural leadership, strategic planning and the application of soft power by cities and museums. Lord has also written numerous museum planning manuals with Barry Lord. Titles include “Cities, Museums and Soft Power”, and "Manual of Museum Management for Museums in Dynamic Change".

As one nominator said, "Every time I meet her on a project I'm amazed at her enthusiasm and encouragement for all members of the team. This enthusiasm is also matched with her encyclopaedic knowledge of what museums are doing globally and her understanding of all aspects of what people are looking for in a museum."

Laura Lott is the inspirational CEO of The American Alliance of Museums (AAM) and her leadership has helped guide the museum sector through an unprecedented period of change.

A results-oriented, strategic leader with a track record of leading transformative change in nonprofit organisations, Lott served as The American Alliance of Museums' chief operating officer for five years before becoming the chief executive officer in 2015. She now effectively leads a diverse, national organisation with 35,000 members.

As a direct result of Lott's work to transform the AAM, it has been better able serve its constituents through enhanced membership offerings, accreditation, annual meetings and by sharing and promoting best practices. Furthermore, AAM member institutions, from art museums to science centres, arboretums and historic houses are better understood and supported because of the success of AAM's annual “Museum Advocacy Days,” which Lott leads. This effort results in increased funding for museums, libraries and other cultural institutions across the US.

Lott's commitment to Diversity, Equity, Accessibility and Inclusion has led to unprecedented funding from major foundations for support of a national initiative to enhance diversity and inclusion within museum leadership. This work is inspiring institutions across the country to address this issue with intention, action and urgency.

During the pandemic, Lott has been the epitome of a strong leader. Through her leadership, AAM has provided vital information for museum professionals and has tirelessly advocated for government funding for the industry.

Since the publication of this list, Lott has left AAM to serve at the National Gallery of Art in Washington as administrator and chief operating officer.

A member of the Executive Council of Abu Dhabi, HE Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak is the Chairman of the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi).

In this role he presides over structural and operational enhancements to the tourism and cultural sectors within Abu Dhabi. Al Mubarak is also Chairman of Abu Dhabi's Tourism and Tourism Development & Investment Company (TDIC). TDIC is master developer of major tourism, cultural and residential projects such as the Louvre Abu Dhabi.

In 2020 DCT Abu Dhabi ran series of virtual conversations hosted and chaired by Al Mubarak. These Cultur-All conversations featured key industry leaders from both MENA and around the world discussing important and relevant cultural topics.

Participants included Abu Dhabi Museums Partners Jean-Luc Martinez, President-Director of the Musée du Louvre, Prof Mikhail Piotrovski, General Director of the State Hermitage Museum, Hartwig Fischer, the Director of The British Museum and Richard Armstrong, Director of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum.

Al Mubarak is also chairman of Miral Asset Management. With assets of over of US$12 billion, Miral’s showpiece development is Yas Island. This world-class entertainment destination is home to Ferrari World Abu Dhabi, Yas Waterworld, Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi, the F1 Yas Marina Circuit and Clymb, the world’s largest indoor skydiving tunnel and highest climbing wall.

Tim Reeve is the deputy director and COO of the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A), the world's leading museum of art, design and performance.

Reeve’s strategic and operational overview of all museum activities includes overseeing the divisions responsible for the V&A's commercial and digital efforts, exhibitions, finance and resources, marketing and communications, security, and visitor experience.

Additionally, he is responsible for managing the V&A's collaboration with China Merchants Group, resulting in the opening of the new V&A Gallery at the Design Society in Shenzhen, China. He also directs the V&A's overall international activities strategy.

Reeve served as project lead on the ambitious new V&A East Storehouse in East London, which opened in May 2025. This new location functions as both a working store for V&A and as a new visitor attraction as part of East Bank, the new cultural quarter in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.

The facility invites visitors behind the scenes to explore more than half a million works spanning diverse creative fields, such as fashion, theatre, streetwear, sculpture, design classics, and pop culture pioneers.

Reeve described the V&A East Storehouse as “A completely new cultural experience – and your backstage pass to the V&A, transforming how you access your national collections on a scale unimaginable until now.”

He is also chair of the East Bank Board, which is responsible for delivering the shared vision of the Mayor of London and the East Bank partners over the long term.

Before joining the V&A, Reeve served as director of historic properties at English Heritage, overseeing the National Heritage Collection's 420 historic sites.

A graduate in Ancient History from Royal Holloway, University of London, Reeve also studied at the Institute of Archaeology (UCL) and completed the International Executive Programme at INSEAD.

An American art critic, editor, writer and curator, Franklin Sirmans is the director of the Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM) Miami’s flagship art museum.

At PAMM, Sirmans has pursued his vision of the institution as “the people’s museum,” representing a Miami lens. He has done this by enhancing existing affiliate groups, including the PAMM Fund for African American Art and by creating the International Women’s Committee and the Latin American and Latinx Art Fund.

Before his appointment he was the department head and curator of contemporary art at Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). Before that he was curator of modern and contemporary art at The Menil Collection in Houston.

Sirmans has been a leader in creating a strong shared vision among his staff and fostering a team culture to make community impact. He brings depth, wisdom, and unparalleled leadership to the Perez Art Museum, and he is steadfast in his commitment to mission-driven work.

Ellen Stofan is the John and Adrienne Mars Director of the National Air and Space Museum. She is also the first female Director of the museum.

Stofan resigned from NASA in December 2016. Although she has confirmed she planned to resign before Donald Trump became president, she has lamented the subsequent barrage of misinformation in relation to climate change, despite the science being unequivocal.

She told The Guardian, “We are under siege by fake information that’s being put forward by people who have a profit motive. Fake news is so harmful because once people take on a concept it’s very hard to dislodge it.

“I’m always wondering if these people honestly believe the nonsense they put forward. When they say ‘It could be volcanoes’ or ‘the climate always changes’… to obfuscate and to confuse people, it frankly makes me angry.”

Previously, Stofan was vice president of Proxemy Research in Laytonsville, Maryland and an honorary professor in the Earth sciences department at the University College London.

Since the publication of this list, Stofan has left the National Air and Space Museum for a role as under secretary for science and research at the Smithsonian Institution.