NewsAppointments
BBC head Tony Hall joins London's National Gallery to lead board of trustees
Hall will leave his top media job in the summer to take up the unpaid position at the museum
NewsAppointments
Nazi loot expert joins Louvre to investigate its wartime acquisitions
Hire of French art historian Emmanuelle Polack suggests a more proactive stance on Nazi-era provenance research at Paris museum
NewsVenice Biennale
Cecilia Alemani appointed artistic director of the 2021 Venice Biennale
The High Line and Art Basel Cities curator is the first Italian woman to hold the position
NewsAppointments
Rebecca Salter elected president of London’s Royal Academy—the first woman in its 251-year history
The printmaker replaces Christopher Le Brun who stepped down after eight years in the post
NewsMuseums & Heritage
KAWS joins board of American Folk Art Museum
The contemporary artist is among four new trustees elected
NewsAppointments & departures
Frieze LA director Bettina Korek appointed chief executive of Serpentine Galleries
Los Angeles art veteran takes the reins at the London institution in its 50th anniversary year
NewsAppointments & departures
Charles Saumarez Smith steps down as senior director at Blain Southern
Gallery is going through a “period of restructuring”, according to founder Harry Blain
NewsJewish Museum Berlin
Hetty Berg is appointed new director of Jewish Museum Berlin
She will take over the German institution following the controversial departure of Peter Schäfer last June
NewsMuseums
Chiara Parisi lined up as new director of the Centre Pompidou-Metz
The Rome-born curator will oversee the gallery’s tenth anniversary programme and events
NewsAppointments
Tate’s Andrea Lissoni to lead Munich’s troubled Haus der Kunst
Challenges include financial problems and a major planned renovation
NewsAppointments & departures
Co-directors step down from London's Design Museum after more than a decade
Deyan Sudjic and Alice Black will leave in January
NewsAppointments & departures
Uffizi's Eike Schmidt reveals why he cancelled move to Kunsthistorisches Museum at the eleventh hour
Uffizi director says he is able to pursue reforms at Florence museum under Italy's new centre-left government
NewsMuseums & Heritage
Minneapolis Institute of Art names Katherine Crawford Luber as president and director
She comes to Minnesota from the San Antonio Museum of Art, where she grew the collections of African American and Aboriginal artists, and expanded programmes for underserved youth
NewsAppointments
Uffizi’s Eike Schmidt cancels move to Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna
Move comes just one month before the German art historian was due to take the reins of the prestigious museum
NewsAppointments & departures
Wolfgang Tillmans is the new chair of London's Institute of Contemporary Arts
The move marks the institution's return to an artist-led board
NewsWhitney Museum of American Art
Whitney Museum vice chairman Warren Kanders steps down after months of protests
His company Safariland has been criticised for manufacturing tear gas canisters that have been used on asylum seekers along the US-Mexico border
NewsAppointments & departures
Emma Lavigne lined up as new president of the Palais de Tokyo in Paris
Director of the Centre Pompidou-Metz would be first woman to hold the position
NewsMuseums & Heritage
Uzbekistan's Nukus Museum names new director
Former Roerich Museum director Tigran Mkrtychev wins international competition to head up the famed Russian avant-garde collection long embroiled in controversy
NewsAppointments & departures
In damning online critique of British Museum's ethics, trustee Ahdaf Soueif announces resignation
Prominent Egyptian-born writer cites the institution's BP sponsorship, treatment of workers and its silence over restitution as key issues
NewsPolitics
Plan to merge Uffizi and Accademia in Florence stokes row over Italian museums reform
Critics say the move by Italy's populist coalition government will compromise the autonomy of museums
NewsAppointments & departures
MoMA PS1 hires former Garage Museum curator as its director
Kate Fowle, known as a champion of artists and curatorial innovation, succeeds Klaus Biesenbach
NewsMuseums & Heritage
Donna De Salvo steps down as Whitney senior curator
After organising popular shows like a Warhol retrospective, she resigns to “pursue other interests’’
NewsAppointments & departures
Serpentine Galleries chief Yana Peel resigns amid controversy over Israeli cybersecurity firm
The move follows a Guardian report linking Peel to the NSO Group, which has been criticised by Amnesty International
News
Jewish Museum Berlin director steps down after a tweet misfires
Germany’s Council of Jews said Peter Schäfer “lost the trust of the Jewish community”
NewsAppointments & departures
Diane 'Dede' Wilsey steps down as board chair of Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
The leader has been both generous and controversial
NewsAppointments & departures
Lonnie Bunch elected new secretary of the Smithsonian Institution
The director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture is the first African American, and first historian, to lead the organisation
NewsAppointments & departures
President Macron’s former public relations chief heads up François Pinault’s art empire
Opera expert Sylvain Fort will oversee the billionaire’s museums in Venice and Paris
News
Czech culture minister resigns amid outrage over dismissals of museum chiefs
Antonin Stanek’s sudden firing of National Gallery director Jiri Fajt sparked international protests and a petition
NewsConservation & Preservation
Guggenheim launches conservation fellowship with help from Russian billionaire Vladimir Potanin
Initiative aims to boost Russian expertise in rapidly developing field of preserving contemporary art
NewsMuseums & Heritage
Uzbekistan’s troubled Nukus Museum embroiled in new row
Museum seeks fourth director in as many years amid claims its renowned avant-garde collection is being “mistreated”
NewsAppointments & departures
Alexandra Suda takes over as director of the National Gallery of Canada
The Ontario native is just the fourth woman to take the post, and the youngest in more than a century
NewsMuseums & Heritage
Kaywin Feldman shatters the glass ceiling at the National Gallery of Art in Washington
During her first week on the job, the new director reveals her aspirations for the museum
NewsAppointments & departures
Terra Foundation’s transformational leader Elizabeth Glassman to step down
During her two-decade tenure, the Terra closed its Chicago museum and turned its attention to grant-making and collaborations
NewsAppointments & departures
Zeitz Mocaa appoints new director following #MeToo scandal
Koyo Kouoh, who founded RAW Material Company in Dakar, replaces Mark Coetzee who was accused of misconduct
NewsAppointments & departures
Fatos Üstek appointed director of the Liverpool Biennial
The Turkish curator has worked on Art Night and was recently named director of the Draf project
News
Munich's Haus der Kunst, leaderless since June, appoints expert commission
Commission is to support curators until successor to Okwui Enwezor is found
NewsAppointments & departures
Stedelijk Museum issues conciliatory statement insisting that feud with Beatrix Ruf is over
Unusual press release is latest twist in long-running dispute between Amsterdam institution and its former director
NewsAppointments & departures
Marc-Olivier Wahler steps down as director of MSU Broad Art Museum
The Swiss curator is resigning from the Michigan institution for family reasons
NewsControversies
'Too conservative' to direct France's arts academy? Jean de Loisy hits back at critics
A petition protesting his appointment at École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts has been signed by 60 arts professionals
News
National Gallery of Art in Washington hires its first female director
Kaywin Feldman, to begin in March, currently leads the Minneapolis Institute of Art
NewsAppointments & departures
Galleria Borghese director Anna Coliva reinstated after suspension over gym visits
Decision to take case to court prompted a public outcry and an online petition
NewsAppointments & departures
Sotheby’s Germany chief Philipp von Württemberg resigns
Heinrich von Spreti will serve as interim managing director until a replacement is found
NewsAppointments & departures
SculptureCenter’s Mary Ceruti named as new executive director of the Walker Art Center
The Minneapolis museum’s former director, Olga Viso, announced her departure a year ago
NewsAppointments & departures
Former Tate Modern chief Chris Dercon takes the reins at the Grand Palais in Paris
The Belgian curator, who quit the Volksbühne Theatre in April, has been appointed head of the culture body Rmn-GP
NewsAppointments & departures
Liverpool Biennial chief Sally Tallant named executive director of Queens Museum
She replaces Laura Raicovich who stepped down in January, citing differences with the board of the museum
NewsAppointments & departures
Director swap: former Met chief Thomas Campbell succeeds Max Hollein at Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
Hollein took Campbell's old job as director of the Met
News#metoo
Riyas Komu, co-founder of Kerala's Kochi-Muziris Biennale, steps down after #MeToo allegations
Accusations were posted on an Instagram account that claims to uncover abuses of power in the Indian art world
NewsAppointments & departures
The Met's Luke Syson to head Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge
Curator returns to the UK where he organised the blockbuster 2011 Leonardo exhibition at the National Gallery in London
NewsAppointments & departures
Art Dubai appoints new international director Chloe Vaitsou, formerly of Frieze Fairs
Emirati fair says she will work alongside the artistic director in a move away from having a single leader
NewsCensorship
Wolfgang Tillmans and Tania Bruguera pledge support for censored Serralves Museum director
João Ribas has stepped down following censorship row around Robert Mapplethorpe show
NewsAppointments & departures
Palestinian Museum appoints Adila Laïdi-Hanieh as director after surprise departure of previous head
The writer and academic replaces Mahmoud Hawari who was only in post two years
News
New York to LA: Klaus Biesenbach to take over MoCA
The board of the West Coast “artists’ museum” welcomes the MoMA PS1 director with open arms
NewsAppointments & departures
Charles Saumarez Smith to leave Royal Academy of Arts to become senior director of Blain Southern
Secretary and chief executive of the London museum says he wanted to leave “at a time of obvious strength and success”
NewsArt market
White Cube appoints Warhol expert Eric Shiner artistic director in New York
Is the London-based gallery growing its US team to open an exhibition space there?
NewsDocumenta
Documenta to name new artistic director by early 2019
Quinquennial appoints eight-member search committee for curator of 2022 edition
NewsAppointments & departures
Brexit reshuffle means Jeremy Wright is seventh UK culture secretary in eight years
Museum admission charges will be on the agenda of MP who cites “James Bond films and playing golf badly” as interests
NewsAppointments & departures
IRL to VR: Daniel Birnbaum leaves Moderna Museet to head-up virtual reality gallery
Museum director due to take up new role at London's Acute Art early next year
News
Okwui Enwezor steps down as director of Munich’s Haus der Kunst
Enwezor cites ill health as reason for departure
News
Philippe Vergne to step down as director of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles
The announcement that he and the board “mutually elected” not to renew his contract comes on the heels of the chief curator Helen Molesworth’s surprise departure
NewsAppointments & departures
Zeitz Mocaa director Mark Coetzee embroiled in #MeToo scandal
Curators accuse the Cape Town museum director of inappropriate and abusive behaviour, according to local reports
NewsAppointments & departures
Mark Coetzee suspended from the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa
An inquiry has been launched into the executive director and chief curator’s professional conduct
News
Road to the Met: how Max Hollein rose to become its next director
A gifted manager and fundraiser, he inherits a museum dogged by financial troubles and discontent
BlogIn the frame
Prince’s Paisley Park is looking for archivist, carnivores need not apply
NewsTate
Tate drops ticket prices for young people and seeks trustee to represent 16-25s
New appointee should be “a cultural entrepreneur and digital native”
News
Max Hollein is the next director of New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art
The current director of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco has both the experience needed to lead the encyclopaedic museum and “real integrity”, says the Met’s president Dan Weiss
NewsAppointments & departures
Louvre director Jean-Luc Martinez’s contract extended for three more years
Paris museum chief must focus on partnerships with Asia and sustained attendance, culture minister says
NewsAppointments & departures
Hartmut Dorgerloh nominated to head Berlin’s Humboldt Forum
If appointed, Dorgerloh, who currently manages the Prussian Palaces and Gardens Foundation, will replace the three founding directors
NewsAppointments & departures
Helen Molesworth is out as LA MoCA's chief curator
The director Philippe Vergne reportedly fired her as the two clashed over the museum's programming
NewsPhotography
Tate's first photography curator Simon Baker named new director of Maison Européenne de la Photographie
Parisian photography centre's programme will show a "strong commitment to women and emerging artists"
NewsBiennials & festivals
Mali Wu and Francesco Manacorda named co-curators of next Taipei Biennale
Exhibition opening in November will explore grassroots communities
NewsAppointments & departures
Architectural historian appointed director of The Queen’s art collection
Tim Knox, currently director of the Fitzwilliam Museum, is a keen connoisseur of works of art
NewsAppointments & departures
Ralph Rugoff named artistic director of the 2019 Venice Biennale
Director of London’s Hayward Gallery will organise 58th International Art Exhibition
NewsAppointments & departures
Journalist and senior art consultant Alison Cole appointed editor of The Art Newspaper
Former editor of Art Quarterly joins the publication in February
NewsArt fairs
Benjamin Genocchio removed as director of Armory Show after reports of harassment
The New York Times reports that multiple women who worked with him said he made sexual comments and touched them inappropriately
Comment
Museums have a duty to be political
Activist curators and directors can make truly democratic spaces, but they need brave boards to support them
Jillian Steinhauer