Charles Esche is a curator, writer, museum director, and educator whose work has shaped contemporary art discourse and institutional practice internationally. From 2004-24, he was Director of the Van Abbemuseum in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, where he curated experimental exhibition models and engaged the role of the museum in society. He is also Professor of Contemporary Art and Curating at the University of the Arts London. Esche has curated numerous international biennials and exhibitions, among them the Gwangju Biennale (2002), the 9th Istanbul Biennial (2005), the RIWAQ Biennales in Palestine (2007 and 2009), the U3 Triennial in Ljubljana (2011), the 31st São Paulo Bienal (2014), and the Jakarta Biennale (2015), alongside other major projects such as Power and Other Things (BOZAR, Brussels, 2017) and The Meeting That Never Was (MO Museum, Vilnius, 2022). His curatorial and institutional work consistently engages with how art and its institutions can respond to social, political, and cultural change, emphasizing pedagogy, community engagement, and the rethinking of collections and displays.