The Future of Museum: 28 Dialogues book
Free
The Future of the Museum: 28 Dialogues

ACMI & Melbourne Art Book Fair present

The Future of Museums: In Conversation with András Szántó, Rhana Devenport, Suhanya Raffel and Katrina Sedgwick

Hosted by Esther Anatolitis

Talk

This event has ended and tickets are no longer available.

When

Sun 28 Mar 2021

12–1pm

As part of this year’s Melbourne Art Book Fair, join New York-based author and cultural strategist András Szántó and leading museum directors Rhana Devenport (Art Gallery of South Australia), Suhanya Raffel (M+ Hong Kong) and Katrina Sedgwick (ACMI) as they reflect on the unforeseen events of 2020 and discuss the challenges and opportunities facing the future of museums.

As captured in András Szántó’s new book, The Future of the Museum: 28 Dialogues, this is a time of rapid change for museums around the globe. Our panel will discuss the ways in which Museums are going through a vital period of reflection, innovation and reinvention. Where old assumptions and models are being reimagined to reflect and respond to contemporary sociopolitical issues.

Live stream – Sun 28 Mar 2021 12–1pm AEDT

Event duration

60 mins

Tickets

FREE (registration required)

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Where

Swinburne Studio, Level 1
ACMI, Fed Square

How to get there

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Watch it on our YouTube channel. The recording will be available to watch after the session has ended.

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About the Panellists

András Szántó

András Szántó is a widely published author who advises museums, foundations, educational institutions, and corporations on cultural strategy and program development, worldwide. He earned his PhD in sociology from Columbia University. His writings have appeared in The New York Times, Artforum, Artnet, and The Art Newspaper, among other publications. As a consultant, he advises some of the world’s leading cultural institutions and corporate art programs. He has lectured on art business at the Sotheby's Institute of Art and has directed the National Arts Journalism Program at Columbia University. At the Metropolitan Museum of Art, he helped launched and oversee the Global Museum Leaders Colloquium, a series of 10-day seminars for international museum directors. He is a frequent moderator of the Art Basel Conversations series. Born in Budapest, he has curated exhibitions on Hungarian art of the 60s and 70s in London and New York. His most recent book is The Future of the Museum (Hatje Cantz, 2020). He lives in Brooklyn.

András Szántó

Rhana Devenport

Rhana Devenport ONZM is Director of Art Gallery of South Australia in Adelaide, she was previously Director of Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki (2013-2018) and Govett-Brewster Art Gallery / Len Lye Centre (2006-2013), both in Aotearoa New Zealand. Devenport is a curator, writer and cultural producer whose career spans art museums, biennales and arts festivals. Her curatorial work includes contemporary art of Asia and the Pacific, time-based media and social practice. In 2017 Devenport was curator for the New Zealand Pavilion at La Biennale di Venezia for ‘Lisa Reihana: Emissaries'. She has previously held senior positions with the Biennale of Sydney, the Sydney Festival, and the Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art at the Queensland Art Gallery. (In 2018 she was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit.)

Image credit: David St George

Rhana-Devenport

Suhanya Raffel

Suhanya Raffel leads M+ as a whole and oversees all museum activities, including acquisitions, programming, collections care, development, research, institutional collaborations, and museum operations. She joined M+ as Executive Director in 2016 and was appointed Museum Director in 2019. Since joining M+, Suhanya has led the museum’s mission, broadening its international reach and championing its deep connection with its local community.

Formerly, Suhanya was Deputy Director of the Art Gallery of New South Wales in Sydney from 2013 to 2016. She also held several positions, including Deputy Director of Curatorial, at the Queensland Art Gallery / Gallery of Modern Art in Brisbane from 2002 to 2012, where she was instrumental in building the contemporary Asia Pacific collection and led its Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art.

Suhanya is an ex-officio member of the M+ Board, a trustee of the Geoffrey Bawa Trust and the Lunuganga Trust in Sri Lanka, and a member of the Board of the International Committee for Museums and Collections of Modern Art. She was awarded the title of Chevalier in the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government in 2020.

Suhanya Raffel

Katrina Sedgwick

Katrina Sedgwick OAM has been the Director & CEO of ACMI since early 2015. Previously, she was the Head of Arts for ABC TV and ABC Arts online (2012–14) and founding Director/CEO of the biennial Adelaide Film Festival and founding director of the AFF Investment Fund (2002–11).

She has an extensive background as a performer, creative producer and festival director. She was a producer for the Adelaide Festival of Arts (1996, 1998 and 2000) and the artistic director of Come Out ‘99 and Adelaide Fringe (2002). She is currently on the Board of Back to Back Theatre, the Australian Film Television & Radio School and the Creative State Advisory Board. She was a member of the Creative Industries Taskforce and a former board member of Chunky Move, the Australian Children’s Television Foundation, Art Gallery of SA, and Chair of the South Australian Youth Arts Board.

Katrina standing in front of a patterned colourful wall

About the Host

Esther Anatolitis

Esther Anatolitis is one of Australia’s leading advocates for arts, culture and the creative industries. Her leadership, facilitative and consultancy work promotes a critical reflection on practice and active civic engagement. Esther is Deputy Chair of Contemporary Arts Precincts, who have recently opened Collingwood Yards, and a former board member of ACMI, Arts Industry Council (Victoria), and Regional Arts Australia. She has held CEO positions across all artforms and media platforms, and is the former Executive Director of the National Association for the Visual Arts. Esther has chaired global advocacy and industry development sessions at the IFACCA World Summit, CARFAC and Americans for the Arts, as well as regional and national forums across Australia. She has been commissioned by governments at all levels to develop or review arts and cultural policies, and has sat on numerous policy advisories, including the Victorian Government Creative Industries Strategy Expert Reference Group. In 2020 Esther was appointed Honorary Associate Professor at RMIT School of Art.

Image credit: Theresa Harrison

Esther Anatolitis Photo by Theresa Harrison

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