Who Is Tate Modern’s Incoming Director, Karin Hindsbo?
Hindsbo will take over in September from Frances Morris, who became the museum's first female director back in 2016.
Karin Hindsbo. Photo © Nasjonalmuseet / Ina Wesenberg.
Tate announced late last week that Danish-born art historian Karin Hindsbo will be the next Director of Tate Modern, London.
'Tate Modern has always been a special place for me and I have had some of my greatest experiences encountering art there,' Hindsbo said in a statement.
'I am eager to continue the magnificent work being done, creating a unique and inspiring museum for a wide and diverse audience,' she said.
Writing in Norwegian on her Instagram, Hindsbo said, 'initially, I had thought that I would try something completely different from working with art museums, at least for a while. But when this opportunity presented itself, I had to take it.'
Hindsbo has served as Director of The National Museum, Oslo, since 2017. During her time there, she finalised the consolidation of the four institutions to create the new museum, which opened to positive reviews in June last year. The museum, which has a collection of 400,000 items, is the largest in Scandinavia.
'The success of the new National Museum in Oslo—delivered in the midst of a global pandemic—is a testament to her skill as a leader,' said Maria Balshaw, Director of Tate.
'Her nuanced and diverse approach to expressing national and transnational artistic ecologies chimes with Tate Modern's ethos brilliantly,' Balshaw said.
Prior to her work for The National Museum, Hindbo was director of art institutions Kode in Bergen (2014–2017), Sørlandets Kunstmuseum in Kristiansand (2012–2014), Kunsthal Aarhus (2009–2011), and Den Frie Centre for Contemporary Art in Copenhagen (2006–2008).
She has also worked as Editor in Chief of Danish cultural journal Øjeblikket and as an external lecturer at the Institute of Art and Cultural Studies at the University of Copenhagen.
Outgoing Tate Modern Director Frances Morris plans to work on 'curatorial projects in the U.K. and abroad, a book about expanding and rethinking the story of Modernism, and an ongoing involvement in the arts sector's response to the climate emergency,' a Tate spokesperson said in November last year.
Tate Modern is one of the world's most popular museums; only the Louvre, the Vatican Museums, and the British Museum receive more visitors. Over 4 million people visited the museum over the past year, though that's down significantly from 2018, when almost 6 million came through the doors.
Tate Modern is currently holding the exhibitions Magdalena Abakanowicz: Every Tangle of Thread and Rope (until 21 May), Maria Bartuszová (until 25 June), Hilma af Klint & Piet Mondrian: Forms of Life (until 3 September), and Bob and Roberta Smith: Thamesmead Codex (until 29 October).
El Anatsui will exhibit his Hyundai Commission in the museum's Turbine Hall in October. —[O]
