Before being appointed director of the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia in 2023, Manuel Segade (A Coruña, 1977) headed the Museo Centro de Arte Dos de Mayo (Móstoles) for ten years, which depends on the Community of Madrid. He holds a degree in Art History from the University of Santiago de Compostela, and has worked as program coordinator of the Metrònom space of the Rafael Tous d'Art Contemporani Foundation in Barcelona and as chief curator of the Centro Galego de Arte Contemporánea (Santiago de Compostela). In addition, he has curated for two decades (2003-2023) numerous exhibitions in national and international institutions. 

As a lecturer he has excelled in the university and institutional field with the organization of national and international courses and seminars. He has been curatorial tutor and advisor to the graduate program in curatorial training at the École du Magasin at the Magasin Centre National des Arts Plastiques in Grenoble (France). In addition, he has taught in university programs in South Africa and Brazil. He has also published articles, catalogs, and books, including Narciso Fin de Siglo, published by Melusina (2008) and Las infinitas especies, published by Espai d'Art Contemporani de Castellón (2014). He also has several awards and mentions. Among them, the distinction Una Gota MAV for the Museo Centro de Arte Dos de Mayo (CA2M), for its commitment to gender equality (2022) and a special mention in the Outstanding Museum Practice Award of CIMAN to the CA2M Museum in 2021, for the projects developed in response to the pandemic in 2020. He is also a founding member of the European Art Assembly, a meeting point for several European contemporary art directors, and founding member of the European Forum For Advanced Practices, supported by the European Community network COST.