Director-General Profile

Ambassador Dato’ Mohd Yusof Ahmad was born in Johor Bahru in 1951. He graduated from University Malaya in 1974. From 1976 – 77 he attended a special programme at Oxford University in diplomacy and international relations. He served at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in various capacities till his retirement in January 2010. As a diplomat he served in Vietnam (1979-81), Italy (1981-85), Poland (1988-92), Australia (1994-96). He was appointed Ambassador to Peru (accredited as Bolivia and Colombia) from 1999 – 2002 and Switzerland (accredited to Liechtenstein) in 2006 – 2010. He had also travelled extensively to many countries around the world as a hobby.

Ambassador Dato’ Mohd Yusof had always had a deep interest in the arts, especially in visual art. He is a collector of paintings, antique porcelains and paints in watercolour and pursues photography as hobbies. He had organized a number of art exhibitions among them the famous Peruvian artist Simeon Gonzales Ayquipa and veteran Sarawakian painter Raphael Scott Ahbeng. In 2001 he loaned 16 paintings from his collection for an exhibition at the National Museum of Peru in Lima, featuring Malaysian artists including Jalaini Abu Hassan, Rafiee Ghani, Jamil Mat Isa and Eng Tay among others. His other interests include the performing arts, creative writing, music, antiquities and gardening.

Ambassador Dato’ Mohd Yusof Ahmad was appointed Director-General of the National Art Gallery on 7th June 2010 and is the first Director-General with a diplomatic and international relations background.