Topical Cream is a New York-based arts organization supporting the work of women and gender non-conforming contemporary artists.
Ruba Katrib Topcial Cream Editor-in-Residence 2023

Katrib To Assume the Role through 2023; the appointment comes as Topical Cream celebrates its ten-year anniversary championing women and gender non-conforming artists and writers in New York. 

The Topical Cream Editor-in-Residence program was developed in response to the urgent need for institutional support for criticism and experimental journalism as the pandemic shifted priorities within many publications and art organizations. Nominations for the residency were solicited from Topical Cream’s Board of Directors and advisors. MoMA PS1 Curator and Director of Curatorial Affairs Ruba Katrib will focus on spotlighting “writing that engages a range of perspectives with a focus on cross-disciplinary and experimental approaches.” She is the third Topical Cream Editor-in-Residence, succeeding critic Laura McLean-Ferris (2022) and inaugural Editor-in-Residence Nora N. Khan (2021). 


“I greatly admire how Topical Cream creates a much-needed space for dialogue around contemporary art, anchoring the work of women-identifying and gender non-conforming artists and writers. It is a privilege to be the 2023 Editor-in-Residence, and I am grateful for the opportunity to think deeply about artistic practices alongside writers. I am passionate about Topical Cream’s role as an outlet that stimulates reflection on artworks and ideas by opening up new, generative avenues for consideration. In line with my curatorial work at MoMA PS1, over this year, I will champion writing that engages a range of perspectives with a focus on cross-disciplinary and experimental approaches,” said Ruba Katrib, Topical Cream’s 2023 Editor-in-Residence.

“The ten-year anniversary of Topical Cream is both a celebration and an urgent call-to-action. We are immensely proud of our community and collective progress, but there remains an immense gap in real support for women and gender non-conforming artists,” said Topical Cream Founder and Director Lyndsy Welgos (she/her). “We are thrilled to welcome Ruba Katrib as our 2023 Editor-in-Residence as we embark on a new decade of advocacy for a more equitable art world.” 

ABOUT RUBA KATRIB
Ruba Katrib is Curator and Director of Curatorial Affairs at MoMA PS1, New York. At PS1 she has curated exhibitions such as Jumana Manna: Break, Take, Erase, Tally (2022), Greater New York (2021), Niki de Saint Phalle: Structures for Life (2021), Simone Fattal’s retrospective in 2019, and solo shows for Edgar Heap of Birds (2019), Karrabing Collective (2019), Fernando Palma Rodríguez, and Julia Phillips (2018). From 2012-2018 she was the Curator at Sculpture Center in New York, where she organized over twenty exhibitions, including 74 million million million tons (2018) (co-organized with artist Lawrence Abu Hamdan) and solo shows of the work of Carissa Rodriguez, Kelly Akashi, Sam Anderson, Teresa Burga, Nicola L., Charlotte Prodger, Rochelle Goldberg, Aki Sasamoto, Cosima von Bonin, Anthea Hamilton, Araya Rasdjarmrearnsook, Magali Reus, Gabriel Sierra, Erika Verzutti, and David Douard. In 2018, Katrib co-curated SITE Santa Fe’s biennial, Casa Tomada, along with José Luis Blondet and Candice Hopkins.
She regularly writes for periodicals and museum catalogs.