Rashida Bumbray is a curator and choreographer. In 2022, she curated “Loophole of Retreat: Venice,” a three-day global symposium focused on Black women’s intellectual and creative labor, as part of Simone Leigh's exhibition “Sovereignty” at the American Pavilion for the 59th Venice Biennale. As Director of Culture and Art at the Open Society Foundations (2015-2022), Bumbray spearheaded the development of the foundation’s first global program dedicated to advancing diverse artistic practices and strengthening locally led cultural spaces worldwide. She began her curatorial career in 2001 at the Studio Museum in Harlem, New York. As Associate Curator at The Kitchen, New York (2006-2012), she organized critically acclaimed commissions and exhibitions, including the first NY solo exhibitions for many artists, including Simone Leigh, Leslie Hewitt, and Adam Pendleton. 

Bumbray‘s work in performance and experimental film draws from Black American vernacular and folk forms, including ring shouts, work songs, hoofing, and the blues. Her work has been presented by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Black Star Film Festival, The Park Avenue Armory, Dia: Chelsea, The New Museum, Tate Modern, and the Whitney Museum of American Art. A graduate of Oberlin College, Bumbray also has an MA in Africana Studies from New York University.