Comings and Goings

This month:

 

Jonathon Riley, director general and master of Royal Armouries, resigns

Jonathon Riley, the director general and master of the Royal Armouries, resigned on 19 November. He had been under suspension since June over what a museum spokeswoman says was “a review of issues raised by our auditors”. She adds that the review was of “a personal and internal disciplinary nature”. Riley, who commanded British troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, resigned to pursue other roles, including his work for the International Criminal Court. Chris Walker took over as the second interim chief executive in September and he will continue in the post until a permanent appointment is made.

Met hires another Tate curator

Nicholas Cullinan is leaving Tate Modern, London, to join his former colleague Sheena Wagstaff at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Cullinan, currently the curator of international Modern art at the Tate, is due to join the Met in the spring of 2013 as a curator in its department of Modern and contemporary art, which Wagstaff leads.

Chus Martínez becomes chief curator of El Museo del Barrio

Chus Martínez has been named the chief curator of El Museo del Barrio, New York. Martínez joins the museum after having worked for the past three years as the head of artistic direction for Documenta 13 in Kassel. Martínez served as a guest curator and advisor for the 29th Bienal de São Paulo in 2010, and was the director of the Frankfurter Kunstverein from 2005 until 2008. Martínez is due to join El Museo before the end of the year.

Urs Stahel, director of Fotomuseum Winterthur, to resign next year

The director of the Fotomuseum Winterthur, Urs Stahel, plans to resign from his position next year. Stahel has served as the museum’s director and curator for 20 years, and was one of its founders, along with Walter Keller and George Reinhart. Prior to founding the Fotomuseum, Stahel was an independent critic, curator, and writer.

Nicolaus Schafhausen to curate Bucharest Biennale

Nicolaus Schafhausen has been named the curator for the Bucharest Biennale 6. Schafhausen is currently the director of the Kunsthalle Wien and organised the German pavilions for the Venice Biennale in 2007 and 2009. He served as the artistic director of the Künstlerhaus Stuttgart from 1995 to 1998 and as the director of the Frankfurter Kunstverein from 1999 until 2005.

RISD makes Elizabeth Williams curator of decorative arts and design

The Museum of Art at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) has named Elizabeth Williams as the new curator of decorative arts and design. Williams joins RISD from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, where she was the assistant curator of decorative arts and design. She takes on the role in January.

Giovanna Melandri appointed president of MAXXI

Giovanna Melandri, formerly Italy’s minister of cultural heritage and activities, has been selected as the president of the National Museum of 21st Century Arts (MAXXI), Rome, by Italy’s culture minister Lorenzo Ornaghi. Melandri served in the government of Prime Minster Massimo D’Alema from 1998 until 2001. Her appointment has stirred controversy, with opposition politician Gian Luca Galletti saying that “it was a completely inappropriate choice by minister Lorenzo Ornaghi to nominate a colleague to the MAXXI presidency”.

Prospect biennial names Brooke Davis Anderson executive director

Prospect New Orleans has named Brooke Davis Anderson as its executive director. Anderson, who takes the post on 21 January, joins the biennale for its third edition, which will be curated by Franklin Sirmans. Anderson left the Los Angeles Country Museum of Art this summer, where she served as the deputy director for curatorial planning. From 1999 until 2010, Anderson was the curator and director at the Contemporary Center and the Henry Darger Study Center at the American Folk Art Museum.

David Thorp named interim director of Modern Art Oxford

With the passing of Modern Art Oxford’s director Michael Stanley late last month, the gallery has appointed David Thorp as the interim director. Thorp is currently the associate director for Artes Mundi, the contemporary art biennial in Wales, and has served as the director of The Showroom and the South London Gallery. Modern Art Oxford has also named Sally Shaw to the newly created position of head of programming. She takes up her role in December.

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