Alistair Hudson will be the new artistic-scientific chairman of ZKM (Zentrum für Kunst und Medien), an art museum in Karlsruhe, Germany from April 2023. He is currently the director of the Whitworth and Manchester Art Gallery.
In a statement, Hudson said: “It is a real honour to be able to take on this role at ZKM, which has established itself as one of the principle cultural institutions in the world right now. Most of all, I see it as one of the most relevant centres of the arts and sciences, carving out new horizons as the world changes with exponential speed.”
Hudson is a curator and museum director with international experience. He combines contemporary curatorial expertise with a profound knowledge of media arts. In February 2022, Hudson was reportedly asked to step down from his post as director of the Whitworth and Manchester Art Gallery. This came after a statement of solidarity with Palestine displayed in the 2021 ‘Cloud Studies’ exhibition prompted an outcry, according to the Guardian.
The statement of solidarity with Palestine formed part of the exhibition by Forensic Architecture and was removed after a series of complaints by UK Lawyers For Israel (UKLFI). In response to Hudson’s departure, Forensic Architecture founder Eyal Weizman said: “Alistair turned the Whitworth into an art space where the important questions of our time could be asked. His sacking is the last in a series of bullying actions by the University of Manchester, which initially aimed at silencing our solidarity with Palestinians, then at stifling open debate and taming political art more generally. This move will shrink the space for art and artists.”
Hudson was a speaker at greenloop 22, blooloop’s sustainability in visitor attractions conference. He discussed making sustainable NFTs and the ‘Ancient of Days’ NFT that was developed with the University of Manchester and Vastari Labs. The trailblazing project uses Tezos, an energy-efficient proof-of-stake algorithm blockchain. The creation of the green NFT is part of a wider research programme, which will conclude with an exhibition titled ‘Economics the Blockbuster’ in 2023.