Sue Kirby is now working as project lead for Women’s Pioneer Housing as it prepares to celebrate its centenary in October 2020 with the help of a grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund. Her most recent museum post was with the London Borough of Newham, where she managed the relocation of their collections.
Ruth Leach has left her role as the exhibitions curator at Leeds City Museum to become the exhibition manager at the Hunterian Museum, which is part of the University of Glasgow.
Peter Luff is standing down as the chair of the National Lottery Heritage Fund and National Heritage Memorial Fund at the end of this year. Luff, whose second term as chair was due to run until the end of March 2021, has made the decision for reasons related to his medical condition – last year he revealed he had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s.
Tim Allan has been announced as the new chair of the board of V&A Dundee. He succeeds founding chair Lesley Knox, who led the board from the architectural competition that appointed architect Kengo Kuma to design the new museum in 2010. Allan is the owner of Unicorn Property Group, which has invested significantly in the regeneration of Dundee’s waterfront over the past decade.
Tate Modern has announced new appointments to its curatorial team. The curators are Nabila Abdel Nabi, who will focus specifically on art from the Middle East and North Africa; Osei Bonsu, who will focus on further developing the representation of African art in Tate’s collection and programme; and Devika Singh, who will specialise in art from South Asia. Also at Tate, Farooq Chaudhry has been appointed a as trustee. The appointment began on 29 July 2019 for a period of four years. Chaudhry, a former dancer, is co-founder and producer of the Akram Khan Company.
The Freedom Festival Arts Trust has announced that Jenny Howard-Coombes, executive director and joint CEO, will step down from her role after this year’s festival. Howard-Coombes was the first employee to join the organisation in 2012, and has been instrumental in the growth of the festival – Hull’s largest annual cultural event. She leaves to take up a new role in the autumn with the National Trust for Scotland.
Alison Sheridan, the principal archaeological research curator for National Museums Scotland, has been made a fellow of the British Academy, the voice for the humanities and social sciences.
Frieze has announced the appointment of Eva Langret as the artistic director of Frieze London. She will lead the strategic development and artistic programme of the fair and act as a liaison for galleries, collectors and curators in collaboration with global director Victoria Siddall.
