Doctoral researcher in art history, part of LAWHA (Lebanon’s Art World at Home & Abroad) at the OIB (Orient-Institut Beirut), and PhD candidate at Cà Foscari University of Venice. His project investigates the history of the Sursock Museum in the second half of the twentieth century, with a focus on the representation of women and minority artists there. He holds a Master of Advanced Studies in Curating from Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK, Switzerland) and a Master of Architecture from Syracuse University (New York). His diverse academic background also includes olfactory and socially-engaged art, as well as the architectural and urbanistic memory of the Lebanese War. Recently programs coordinator at BAC (Beirut Art Center); partner-manager of AVE Group, a cosmetics import-distribution agency; and founder–director of Scent Art Net & News, a platform for smell in art and culture. Ashraf is an (olfactory) art curator, consultant, writer and researcher. He has curated several scent art projects at international biennales and museums, and lectured on the cultural history of smell at universities in Europe. He was on the scientific committee of experts for the recent exhibition “Parfums d’Orient” at the Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris, and curated an olfactory program at the Ad-Diriyah Biennale, Saudi Arabia’s first contemporary art Biennale, which included a talk, workshops, and an olfactory intervention. He has conducted Smelling Workshops for Google in Zurich and served as a judge for the Institute for Art and Olfaction in Los Angeles. His scent art projects also include a year-long Olfactory Exhibition series at Kunstmuseum Thun and an Urban Scent Walk for Biennale Bern.