International art critic and curator Hou Hanru will deliver the commencement address to SMFA's 225 graduates on Sunday, May 19 at 6 pm in the Ruth and Carl J. Shapiro Family Courtyard at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

Hou (b. 1963, Guangzhou, China) lives in Paris and San Francisco. He received degrees from the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing and moved from China to France in 1990. He lived 16 years in Paris before moving to San Francisco in 2006. He most recently held the position as Director of Exhibitions and Public Program and Chair of Exhibition and Museum Studies at the San Francisco Art Institute (2006–12). He is co-director of the first World Biennale Forum (Gwangju, 2012) and is currently curating the 5th Auckland Triennial (Auckland, New Zealand, May–August 2013).

Hou's impressive list of curatorial projects include: "China/Avant-Garde" (1989), "Parisien(ne)s" (1997), "Cities On The Move" (1997–2000), Shanghai Biennale (2000), Gwangju Biennale (2002), Venice Biennale (French Pavilion, 1999; Z.O.U. -- Zone Of Urgency, 2003; Chinese Pavilion, 2007), Nuit Blanche (2004, Paris), the 2nd Guangzhou Triennial (2005), the 2nd Tirana Biennial (2005), the 10th Istanbul Biennial (2007), "Global Multitude" (Luxembourg 2007), "Trans(cient)City" (Luxembourg 2007), EV+A 2008 (Limerick) and "The Spectacle of the Everyday, The 10th Lyon Biennale" (Lyon, 2009).

Hou has served as consultant to numerous institutions including Walker Art Center (Minneapolis), Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (New York), Kumamoto Museum of Contemporary Art (Kumamoto, Japan), De Appel Foundation (Amsterdam), Rockbund Art Museum (Shanghai), Times Museum of Contemporary Art (Guangzhou), Today Art Museum (Beijing), Deutsche Bank Collection (Frankfurt), Kadist Art Foundation (San Francisco/Paris), Asian Art Archive (Hong Kong) and served in juries of international awards including the Hugo Boss Prize (Guggenheim Museum), Chinese Contemporary Art Award (Beijing), Ars Fennica (Helsinki) and Prix International d'Art Contemporain de la Fondation Prince Pierre de Monaco (Monaco).

Hou contributes regularly to international art magazines including Flash Art International, Art in America, Art Asia Pacific, Yishu and Art-It. A selection of his writings was published as "On The Mid-Ground" (Timezone 8, 2002) and in 2011 published "Paradigm Shifts, Walter & McBean Galleries exhibitions and public programs, San Francisco Art Institute, 2006-2011" with Mary Ellyn Johnson (San Francisco Art Institute, 2011). He has taught and lectured at institutions including Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten (Amsterdam), HISK (Antwerp /Ghent), and numerous universities, museums, around the globe.