Karin Hinsbo, director of Norway’s recently opened national museum, was appointed Friday as the new director of London’s Tate Modern, one of the world’s most popular museums.
The Danish-born art historian Hinsbaugh will succeed Francis Morris, who has headed Tate Modern since 2016, in September.Last October, Morris announced that she was leaving Focus on curatorial projects and work to address the climate impacts of the art world.
In a news release, Hindsbo, 49, said he was “extremely excited” to move in. “Some of my best experiences with art” were at a former power plant on the banks of the Thames. He added that it happened at the museum where it was housed. .
The director of the Tate Modern is one of the most high-profile roles in the European art world, and the museum is expected to regularly stage modern and contemporary art blockbusters. Under Morris’ leadership, critically acclaimed exhibitions include a sold-out retrospective of Cézanne, a career-spanning exhibition of video work by British artist Steve McQueen, and an exploration of the work of African-American artists during the civil rights era. I am hosting a show.
About 4.4 million people have visited Tate Modern in the past year, according to a spokesperson. Only the Louvre, Vatican Museums and the British Museum have increased tourism in his 2022. According to a study by The Art Newspaper.
A trained art historian, Hindsbo ran museums throughout Scandinavia. Corde In Bergen, Norway, in 2017, he became director of the country’s new national museum and was given the power to oversee its opening. The museum has a collection of over 400,000 objects, including the most famous version of Edvard Munch’s The Scream, works by indigenous Sámi artists and medieval tapestries.
During the construction of the National Museum, Hinsbo was featured in a Norwegian newspaper for her management style, purchase decision The opening hours of the building will also be delayed. In an interview with The New York Times last year, Hinsbaugh said her backlash against her “could have been worse” given her Danish identity. The museum has attracted more than 1.3 million visitors since it opened last June to positive reviews.
Maria Barshaw, director of the Tate, a group of British museums that includes the Tate Modern, said in a news release that Hinsbo’s success with complex projects was “a testament to her skill as a leader”. said.
“I know Karin brings a spirit of vision, creativity and artistic ambition that allows us to continue to reach new heights.
The change of leadership comes at a potentially difficult time for Tate Modern. Its visitor numbers are still far below what was achieved before the coronavirus pandemic (Almost 6 million art lovers visited in 2018), the British government, which subsidizes the Tate Modern, has cut funding for several of London’s major arts bodies.
The new director will also have to deal with the impact of recent lawsuits. In February, Britain’s Supreme Court ruled in a “clearly nuisance case” that the top-floor observatory at the popular tourist attraction Tate Modern allowed visitors to stare into neighboring luxury apartments. Tate may have to pay compensation to the occupants or the shuttered portion of the platform to settle the dispute, the court said.
