Farid Abdullayev was the Executive Director at YARAT Contemporary Art Space, a non-profit arts organization in Baku. Founded in 2011 as a pioneering platform for contemporary art, YARAT focuses its mission on nurturing and enhancing understanding of contemporary arts in Azerbaijan. They produce popular ongoing exhibitions, community interactions, educational programs and festivals. In March 2015 YARAT opened its own multi-disciplinary space which greatly enlarged their capacity for programming.

As Executive Director, Abdullayev’s work is focused on exploration of new models of community engagement and new strategies of audience development. While in the US, Abdullayev gained experience in strategic planning and public relations practices. He is also interested in the role art administrators can play in animating public space.