About

Jack Thomas Taylor joined The Media Majlis in 2017 as one of the founding curators and has worked extensively across multiple areas of the museum since its inception. In 2021 he was a key member of the team that helped the museum receive its accreditation from the American Alliance of Museums (awarded in 2022). 

Taylor holds a Master of Arts in Culture, Criticism and Curation from Central Saint Martins (CSM) at the University of the Arts London (UAL) with a thesis observing the values that pertain to Universal Expositions (World Expos). In 2021, Taylor completed his Master of Business Administration in Culture and Enterprise, jointly awarded by Birkbeck Business School and his alma mater CSM, with a dissertation with distinction questioning if business strategy tools can be used in the arts and culture domain. Taylor also has a diploma in Intellectual Property and Collections from the Institute of Art & Law at Queen Mary University, London.

Taylor’s current research interests include the exploration of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ and its impact on the cultural and creative industries in Doha, Qatar. This research is being supervised by King’s College London where he is also currently obtaining his PhD within the culture, media, and creative industries faculty.

At The Media Majlis, he curated the inaugural exhibition Arab identities, images in film (2019), and has since curated Breaking News? how the smartphone changed journalism (2020), Is it a beautiful game? (2022), and MetaWhat? (forthcoming 2023). Other curatorial work includes Mind the Gap at Tashkeel Studio (Dubai, 2017), Heritage: A User’s Manual at the Southbank Centre Archive Studio (London, 2016) and Inert Matter, Then Live Wire held at Central Saint Martins (London, 2016). In 2023, his article A TV Cabinet of Curiosities will be published by Architecture Media Politics Society (AMPS) in their Proceedings Journal Series Transformative Teaching - Focus on Pedagogy (ISSN 2398-9467).

Since 2009, he has held various positions in the arts, culture and creative domains in Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Dubai, and Qatar across exhibitions, branding, visual arts, programming, and publishing. Taylor has consulted a variety of organizations on cultural and creative strategy and has contributed to notable projects including the countrywide experience for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™.

As an experienced curator and producer of ideas, he has worked in diverse and Agile work environments managing exhibitions and media products from concept through to delivery. Taylor has wide ranging experience in creative services, including with BOND Creative Agency as studio manager, strategist, and producer (Abu Dhabi) and as an independent consultant with brand experience agency, Imagination. Publishing work includes Brownbook (Dubai) and Arabian Magazines (Bahrain), as well as founding Alef Magazine (Qatar) in 2013. Taylor has also written for the likes of Canvas, Harper’s Bazaar, LS:N Global, Sotheby’s, Time Out, and Vision.

In 2023, Taylor was appointed by Her Excellency Sheikha Amna bint Abdulaziz Al-Thani as a founding board member of the inaugural International Council of Museums (ICOM) national committee in Qatar. Taylor also joined the Northwestern University Staff Advisory Council where he sits on the Human Resources Committee.