The only constant in the art world is change, whether it’s artwork changing hands, pieces breaking auction records or people moving from one institution to another. What follows are some of the most notable role changes recently announced across the art sphere.
Elena Filipovic to become director of Kunstmuseum Basel
Filipovic, curator and director of Kunsthalle Basel, beat out thirty-four other candidates for this position at the home of the world’s oldest public art collection. She will assume her new role in June of next year, succeeding Josef Helfenstein, and oversee collections at The Hauptbau, the Gegenwart and the Neubau. “I very much look forward to this new task of shaping the museum’s future so that its rich history and unrivaled collection remain alive in the public awareness with new content and narratives,” Filipovic said in a statement.
Earlier in her career, the U.S.-born curator oversaw the Satellite program of the Jeu de Paume art center in Paris, curated the Croatian pavilion at the 59th Venice Art Biennale and served as senior curator at WIELS in Brussels. She was notably the first woman to serve as director of Kunsthalle Basel.
Yasufumi Nakamori appointed Asia Society’s Museum Director and VP of Arts and Culture
Formerly Senior Curator, International Art (Photography) at Tate, Nakamori is an experienced curator and scholar of modern and contemporary Asian art. When he becomes Asia Society’s Museum Director and Vice President of Arts and Culture in August, he will oversee the museum’s exhibition program and arts-focused programming across the organization. “I would like the museum to become the engine for expanding the scholarly and curatorial field of Asian and Asian diaspora art by looking at Asia’s relationship with the world throughout history,” Nakamori said in a statement.
In addition to developing Tate’s collection of photography and curating exhibitions and collection displays, Nakamori also advised on Asian and Asian diaspora art and was a member of Tate’s Race Equality Task Force. Earlier in his career, Nakamori oversaw Minneapolis Institute of Art’s department of photography and new media and served as curator of photography at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.
Andreas Rumbler named director of Gagosian’s Swiss locations
The longtime Christie’s executive, who previously served as deputy chairman of the action house’s Impressionist and Modern Department, is joining the global gallery as director of Gagosian’s Swiss concerns. Rumbler will oversee operations across the gallery’s spaces in Geneva, Basel and Gstaad. Recently, he told Observer that he was most excited to start working with artists such as Georg Baselitz, Jenny Saville, Amoako Boafo and Richard Serra, among others.
Before signing on with Gagosian, Rumbler was with Christie’s for three decades, serving in several positions including, at the start of his career, print specialist and, later, Managing Director of Christie`s Germany. In 2019, he left the auction house to head up Lévy Gorvy’s Zurich outpost. Two years later, he founded Galerie Rumbler in the same city.
Antonia Ruder will take over as director of Gallery Weekend Berlin
Ruder, former head of communications at the Schaubühne theater in Berlin, will step into the role in November, succeeding Maike Cruse, now of Art Basel. “I’m very much looking forward to the new challenge of further expanding Gallery Weekend Berlin as a notable and indispensable date in the national and international art calendar,” she said in a statement.
Prior to working at the theater, Ruder served as a consultant for the visual and performing arts at the Kulturkreis der deutschen Wirtschaft e.V, was involved in the founding of the Corporate Collecting Working Group and worked in the Cultural Engagement department of the BMW Group. “The success of Gallery Weekend stands for the city’s unique gallery scene and underscores the importance of Berlin as an art market hub,” she added. “I see it as my primary goal to further strengthen its role and function. I’m eagerly anticipating the preparations for next year’s anniversary edition.”
Jonathan Fine named director general of Vienna’s Kunsthistorisches Museum
Formerly director of the Weltmuseum, the American art historian will succeed Sabine Haag in 2025 as director general of the city’s Kunsthistorisches Museumsverband, as first reported by The Art Newspaper. He will oversee three major Viennese museums: the Kunsthistorisches Museum, the Weltmuseum and the Austrian Theatre Museum.
Fine, who beat out nineteen other candidates for the role, has focused his career primarily on African art and previously served as head of collections at Berlin’s Ethnological Museum. Recently, he led a commission to help the Austrian Ministry of Culture develop a committee to handle restitution and repatriation. Prior to becoming an art historian, Fine studied art and archeology at Princeton and law at Yale, and practiced law with a focus on human rights issues and disputed territory in Africa.
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