Australian Suzanne Cotter to head Museum of Contemporary Art
An award-winning Australian curator and director will return from her lauded overseas career to lead Sydney’s Museum of Contemporary Art.
NSW
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An Australian will return from an overseas career to take up the Sydney post as director of the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia.
Suzanne Cotter, director of the Musée d’Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean (MUDAM), Luxembourg, will replace Elizabeth Ann Macgregor OBE, the popular Scot who rescued the MCA from financial disaster when she arrived more than 20 years ago and turned it into a vibrant and successful museum.
The MCA made the announcement on Thursday evening.
MCA chair Lorraine Tarabay said the museum was “thrilled” that someone of Cotter’s calibre was taking the reins.
“The board was impressed by Suzanne’s depth and breadth of experience, international networks, extensive expertise in dealing with multiple stakeholders, and her demonstrated capacity for artistic and strategic vision, ideally placing her to lead the museum at this critical time,” Tarabay said.
“Suzanne has worked across several important contemporary art institutions in Europe, the United States and the Middle East.
“She is greatly respected by artists and her peers globally.
“Suzanne is internationally recognised as an active part of the community of modern and contemporary art museums. She brings to the MCA an outstanding network of connections and international best practice in contemporary art museum management, programs, thought leadership and curatorial excellence.
“She is incredibly well placed to advocate for Australian art and artists on the global stage.”
Cotter said she was delighted about her new role.
“I am inspired by the MCA and its collection, exhibition and social impact programs, its commitment to living artists, particularly the work of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists, and to the importance of art in the lives of everyone,” Cotter said.
“In the wake of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, and in response to the growing force of environmental and social justice movements globally, the museum has a vital role to play for the diverse communities that it serves and in which they can recognise themselves and their world.
“The MCA is responding to this context and ensuring its place as an outstanding institution in Australian cultural life. I am honoured to have been given the opportunity to lead the MCA’s exceptional team and to participate in shaping the Museum’s future.”
Cotter is a previous director of the Museum of Contemporary Art of the Serralves Foundation in Porto (Portugal), curator for the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation New York, and deputy director and curator at large of the UK’s Modern Art Oxford.
She has also held curatorial positions at leading galleries including the Hayward Gallery, Whitechapel Art Gallery, and the Serpentine Gallery in London.
She co-curated the 10th Sharjah Biennial in the United Arab Emirates in 2011, which received the Alice Award Artistic Landmarks in Contemporary Experience for Best Biennial.
She is the Secretary General of the Board of CIMAM (International Committee for Modern and Contemporary Art Museums).
In 2005, Cotter was awarded the Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government for her contribution to culture through her curatorial work.
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