Dr. Nina Heydemann is currently the director of the Maraya Art Centre and the 1971 - Design Space in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. Established in 2010, the Maraya Art Centre is a non-profit art space with a focus on emerging and established artists. The 1971 - Design Space, launched in Sharjah in 2015, is a non-profit platform for local as well as international designers. 

Before her appointment, Dr. Nina Heydemann worked as the Senior Manager – Visual Arts heading the Department of Visual Arts at the Abu Dhabi Music & Arts Foundation (ADMAF) in Abu Dhabi from 2014-2018. She received her PhD degree in Art History from the University of Leipzig, Germany, and the University College London (UCL), United Kingdom. Her dissertation “The Art of Quotation. Forms and Themes of the Art Quote, 1990-2010”, examines inter-pictorial referentiality of contemporary artworks. Previously, she worked as an exhibition manager for the Deutsche Bank Art Collection in Frankfurt/Main, Germany. 

 

Dr. Nina Heydemann studied Art History and Cultural Sciences at the University of Leipzig, the Università Ca’ Foscarì Venice and Venice International University, Italy. She was awarded scholarships from the University of Leipzig, the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and the German Academic Scholarship Foundation (Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes).