The Gwangju Biennale Foundation (President Park Yang-woo) is delighted to announce Sook-Kyung Lee, the Artistic Director of the 14th Gwangju Biennale, has been named the new Director of The University of Manchester’s renowned Whitworth Art Gallery. Lee will join the Whitworth in August 2023 to assume her new role as director and become Honorary Professor of Transcultural Curating at the University. The Whitworth, part of The University of Manchester, is a renowned institution founded in 1889, celebrated for its extensive modern and contemporary art collections, innovative exhibitions, and engagement with diverse audiences. Lee is currently Senior Curator of International Art at Tate Modern where she has led the Hyundai Tate Research Centre: Transnational since 2019. During her tenure at Tate, she curated several major exhibitions, including Richard Bell: Embassy (2023), A Year in Art: Australia 1992 (2021-23), and Nam June Paik (2019-20) which toured Europe, USA, and Asia. She also contributed significantly to the development of Tate’s international art collection strategy, managing initiatives like the Asia Pacific Acquisitions Committee and the co-acquisition program in collaboration with the Museum of Contemporary Art, Australia, supported by the Qantas Foundation. In December 2021, the Gwangju Biennale Foundation appointed Lee as the Artistic Director of the 14th Gwangju Biennale titled soft and weak like water (April 7-July 9, 2023). Lee’s extensive experience, innovative thinking, substantial global network, and dissemination of Non-Western discourses were key factors in her appointment to the global contemporary art scene. In response to her appointment, Lee said in the University’s official announcement: “It is a huge honour for me to take up the role of Director at the Whitworth, one of the most innovative and audience-focused art institutions in the UK and internationally. I have admired the Whitworth’s commitment to work with local communities and to use art for positive social change. I would like to further develop the gallery in its artistic rigour and social impacts and to widen its global connections, along with the gallery’s dedicated staff and The University of Manchester.” |
