Maria Hlavajova (b. 1971) is General and Artistic Director of BAK, basis voor actuele kunst in Utrecht (since 2000), and Artistic Director of FORMER WEST (since 2008), which she initiated and developed as an international research, education, publication, and exhibition undertaking. In 2011, Hlavajova organized the Roma Pavilion in the framework of the 54th Venice Biennale, Venice, titled Call the Witness, and in 2007 she curated the three-part project, Citizens and Subjects, the Dutch contribution to the 52nd Venice Biennale. Hlavajova has organized numerous exhibitions and projects at BAK and beyond. She also regularly edits and contributes to various critical readers and catalogues, and lectures on contemporary art internationally. She is a Founding Director of the tranzit network (together with Kathrin Rhomberg), a foundation that supports exchange and contemporary art practices in Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, and Slovakia. Hlavajova lives and works in Amsterdam and Utrecht.