The idea of “soft power” has gained increasing resonance, describing the capacity to influence behaviour, shape agendas, and guide outcomes through culture. Those who steward cultural institutions therefore occupy a unique position of influence: they inform public taste, frame narratives, and determine what enters the cultural conversation.
Behind the scenes of the world’s leading museums, art centres, and biennales, this influence is matched by responsibility. To lead, program, or curate such spaces involves navigating complex decisions, balancing competing perspectives, and considering the far-reaching impacts—both visible and subtle—of each choice.
Join Susie Ferrell, curator at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), Purat Osathanugrah, founder of the newly launched private museum Dib Bangkok, and Victor Wang, Executive Director of Artspace Sydney and Adjunct Curator at the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo, as they reflect on how cultural leadership today can be both a challenge and an opportunity—and how thoughtful stewardship can help culture move forward.
Speakers:
Susie Ferrell – Associate Curator of Chinese Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)
Purat Osathanugrah – Founder and Chairman, Dib Bangkok
Victor Wang – Executive Director of Artspace Sydney and Adjunct Curator at the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo
Moderated by:
Tan Siuli – Independent Curator, ART SG Contributing Editor
Susie Ferrell – Associate Curator of Chinese Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)
Susanna Ferrell is the Wynn Resorts Associate Curator of Chinese Art, with a specialty in contemporary Chinese art. She joined LACMA in 2016, and has been working closely with the Yuz Foundation Collection as well as the Fondation INK Collection, a promised gift to the museum of over 400 works of contemporary Chinese and global ink art. In 2019, she co-curated The Allure of Matter: Material Art from China, and led the installations of works by Zeng Fanzhi and Zhu Jinshi at LACMA; in 2020, she co-curated The Abode of Illusions: The Garden of Zhang Daqian at the Yuz Museum in Shanghai. In 2021, she curated the exhibitions Ink Dreams: Selections from the Fondation INK Collection and Legacies of Exchange: Chinese Contemporary Art from the Yuz Foundation; and in 2025, she curated the exhibitions Zheng Chongbin: Golden State and Line, Form, Qi: Calligraphic Art from the Fondation INK Collection.
She has also authored an accompanying catalogue for Ink Dreams and contributed to catalogues for Allure of Matter, Line, Form, Qi, Zheng Chongbin: Golden State, and Liu Kuo-sung: Experimentation as Method (National Gallery Singapore, 2023). Susanna holds an MA in the History of Fine Art from The Courtauld Institute with a focus on Chinese contemporary art, and a BA in Art History and Studio Art from Scripps College. Her research interests include identity in digital spaces, feminist ecologies and the agency of nature, mental and physical health, and art games.
Purat ‘Chang’ Osathanugrah – Founder and Chairman, Dib Bangkok
Purat (Chang) Osathanugrah is a Thai business leader, educator, and cultural pioneer whose vision bridges art, education, and enterprise.
As Founder and Chairman of Dib Bangkok, he is creating Thailand’s first truly global contemporary art museum—a cultural sanctuary designed to engage the next generation of artists, thinkers, and innovators.
In parallel, as President of Bangkok University—and the youngest university president in Thailand—he advances a mission of creative, practical learning that empowers students to thrive in a rapidly evolving world. His belief that education should nurture imagination as much as intellect underpins both institutions.
Representing the new generation of the Osathanugrah family—founders of Osotspa—Purat carries forward the business and creative legacy of his father, Petch Osathanugrah, a visionary business and cultural figure. Through Oventure Group, the family office overseeing ventures across consumer goods, real estate, investments, and education, he continues to shape Thailand’s business landscape. As Chairman of Shiseido Thailand and Partner at Arc 9 Private Equity, he applies design-driven, globally minded leadership to build institutions that inspire, connect, and create lasting cultural and social value.
Victor Wang – Executive Director of Artspace Sydney and Adjunct Curator at the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo
Victor Wang 王宗孚 is the Executive Director of Artspace on Gadigal Country/Sydney and an Adjunct Curator at the Mori Art Museum, Tokyo. Previously, he served as Executive and Artistic Director of M WOODS Museum (2019–2025), where he led its Beijing and Chengdu institutions.
Wang’s curatorial practice is shaped by a sustained interest in cultural exchange, performance, and the movement of ideas across geographies. He has curated major collaborative projects with institutions including Palais de Tokyo, Paris; Tate Modern, London; and the Nationalgalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, and was involved in the first collaborative exhibition between the British Museum and a non-state-run art museum in China.
In 2025, he curated the first solo exhibition in Japan of British artist Sonia Boyce DBE RA at the Mori Art Museum. Across China and Asia, Wang has organised numerous landmark exhibitions, including museum surveys of artists such as Ryuichi Sakamoto, Ann Veronica Janssens, Martin Margiela, Bruce Nauman, Man Ray, Giorgio Morandi, Richard Tuttle, Haroon Mirza, and Huang Rui, among others. His work has frequently foregrounded dialogue between Asia(s) and the West, as well as the visibility of artists and practices historically underrepresented in European and North American contexts.
Wang has a particular focus on performance art. He was curator of Frieze LIVE at Frieze London in 2020 and is the founder of the Institute of Asian Performance Art (IAPA). He is also editor of Performance Histories from East Asia 1960s–90s (DRAF, 2018). In addition to his curatorial work, Wang writes regularly for international art publications including Artforum, Art Review, and Yishu, and is co-editor of the first Chinese monograph on Bruce Nauman (Tate Publishing / M WOODS, 2024). He has contributed to Phaidon publications including Prime: Art’s Next Generation and Vitamin Txt.
Wang serves on the Director’s Circle of Bangkok Kunsthalle, the Curatorial Advisory Group at the Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford, and the Selection Committee for Sydney Contemporary. His honours include Robb Report China’s “Curator of the Year” (2023), Apollo’s “40 Under 40: Thinkers” (2018), and the AICA Incentive Prize for Young Critics (2016). He holds an MA in Curating Contemporary Art from the Royal College of Art, London.
Tan Siuli – Independent Curator, ART SG Contributing Editor
An independent curator and former Museum professional, Tan Siuli has over a decade of curatorial experience with a focus on contemporary art from Southeast Asia. Her exhibition projects include two editions of the Singapore Biennale (2013 and 2016), inter-institutional traveling exhibitions, as well as mentoring and commissioning platforms such as the President’s Young Talents exhibition series. She has also lectured on Museum-based learning and Southeast Asian art history at institutes of higher learning such as the National Institute of Education as well as LaSalle College of the Arts.
Her recent speaking engagements include presentations on Southeast Asian contemporary art at Frieze Academy London and Bloomberg’s Brilliant Ideas series. Tan holds an MA in Art History from University College London, a BA in Literature and Art History from the University of Nottingham, UK, and a Postgraduate Diploma in Asian Art from the School of Oriental and African Studies (University of London), UK.