Biography
Sarah E.K. Smith is a scholar and curator whose research explores contemporary art and museums, with an interest in how artworks and institutions provide a lens to address cultural diplomacy, cultural labour, and cultural policies.
An Associate Professor in the Faculty of Information and Media Studies at Western University, Dr. Smith holds the Canada Research Chair (Tier 2) in Art, Culture and Global Relations. As CRC, Sarah is undertaking a program of research addressing cultural diplomacy. This work builds on her efforts as a co-founder of the North American Cultural Diplomacy Initiative (NACDI) and her contributions as a member of the International Cultural Relations Research Alliance (ICRRA).
Dr. Smith’s work on cultural diplomacy aims to understand how visual art is used by states and other actors to advance relationships in the international arena, often supporting foreign policy objectives. In her monograph Trading on Art: Cultural Diplomacy and Free Trade in North America, she argues that visual art was vital to naturalizing the concept of North American economic integration following the free trade deals implemented near the end of the twentieth century. Her research also highlights museums as significant actors in cultural diplomacy, revealing that these institutions have long histories of global engagement that are often overshadowed by recent developments such as the rise of satellite museums and global museum brands. Contributions include the edited collection Museum Diplomacy: How Cultural Institutions Shape Global Engagement.
Sarah is currently a Fellow at the Käte Hamburger Kolleg global dis:connect at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München. She has taught at Carleton University, OCAD University, Queen’s University, and the University of Southern California—where she held the 2015 Canada-US Fulbright Visiting Research Chair in Public Diplomacy. She maintains an active independent curatorial practice and previously worked as Curator of Contemporary Art at the Agnes Etherington Art Centre. She is currently contributing to Western University's Centre for Sustainable Curating and is a member of the Academics & Research Team for the Idaho Museum of International Diaspora.