Museum of Modern Art, New York

The Museum of Modern in New York is one of the world’s preeminent art institutions. Founded in 1929 by three visionary women (Lillie P. Bliss, Mary Quinn Sullivan; and Abby Aldrich Rockefeller) with the ambition to establish a museum that exhibits and collects art of the day, MoMA appointed Alfred J Barr as its founding director. His commitment to realising an exemplary interdisciplinary museum — one that presents architecture, industrial design, photography, film, and theatre design alongside painting, sculpture, drawings, and prints — made a lasting impact on the scholarship, presentation and discourse of 20th and 21st century culture. In 1932 MoMA established the Department of Architecture and Design, which since plays a critical role in the museum’s exhibition programme, collection building and practice of new museology. MoMA’s coveted internship programme has launched many respected curatorial careers and since 1999 the annual summer pavilion commission at PS1 in Long Island City, is an important platform for emerging architects and designers. Jade Niklai participated in a 12-month internship (2000–2001) in the Architecture and Design Department under the auspices of Paola Antonelli and in Development as research support for Todd Bishop. www.moma.org