Astrid Welter, project director of Fondazione Prada; Jean-Paul Engelen, head of public art at QMA; Abdellah Karroum, director of Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art; and Hans-Ulrich Obrist, co-director of exhibitions and programmes and director of international projects, Serpentine Gallery.Qatar Museums Authority (QMA) and Fondazione Prada have announced the launch of Curate, a first-of-its-kind global competition to find new curating talent. Curate opens up and challenges people’s ideas of exhibitions. It will provide one winner with the opportunity to curate his/her own exhibition. Applications opened yesterday on www.curateaward.orgA world-renowned jury will judge the ideas on their creativity and social significance, rewarding those with a contemporary and culturally relevant point of view. The judges will look for an exemplary exhibition that is both far-sighted and critical to the future. Participation in the competition is not limited to aspiring or established curators, but open to anyone with a great concept for creative expression, with the emphasis on encouraging young people to compete - whether as individuals or as collaborative groups.Twenty finalists will be selected by the jury and showcased on the Curate website, giving an opportunity to the public to vote on their favourite project. Applications close on December 31 and the winner will be announced in spring 2014.The jury includes HE Sheikha Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, chairperson of QMA; Miuccia Prada, president of Fondazione Prada; Rem Koolhaas, architect, urban theorist and founder of OMA (Office for Metropolitan Architecture); Nadine Labaki, Lebanese filmmaker and actress; Nawal el-Moutawakel, the first woman from a Muslim-majority country to win an Olympic gold medal; and Hans Ulrich Obrist, co-director, Serpentine Gallery, London. Proposals can now be uploaded on the Curate website for consideration by the jury. The format of the proposal should be a self-made video no longer than two minutes in length, with a one-page accompanying text explaining the idea.A statement issued yesterday on behalf of the Curate jury said, “The notion of ‘curating’ no longer belongs just to the museum. With the development of digital and social media, it has now become possible for anyone to participate in the selection, editing and communication of ideas. We hope that people, whatever their age or background, will make the most of the opportunity offered by Curate to think about the future potential of exhibition making, where there are no imposed boundaries to media, scale, content and formats, and ideas, whether from the fields of science or the arts, can come from anywhere.”While the QMA is securing the country’s position as a leading centre of culture and education, Fondazione Prada is an institution dedicated to contemporary art and culture.