Manchester’s Whitworth gallery has announced Sook-Kyung Lee as its new director. Lee currently serves as a senior curator at London’s Tate Modern.
Part of the University of Manchester, the Whitworth was founded in 1889 as the Whitworth Institute and Park in memory of the industrialist Sir Joseph Whitworth.
During her time at Tate Modern, Lee has curated several major exhibitions and displays. She has also contributed to Tate’s international art collection strategy.
Lee will start her new role at the Whitworth this August, and will become honorary professor of transcultural curating at the University of Manchester.
The Whitworth is “one of the most innovative and audience-focused art institutions in the UK and internationally”, she said.
“I have admired the Whitworth’s commitment to work with local communities and to use art for positive social change,” she added. “I would like to further develop the gallery in its artistic rigour and social impacts and to widen its global connections, along with the gallery’s dedicated staff and the University of Manchester.”
Nalin Thakkar, the University of Manchester’s vice-president for social responsibility, said Lee’s appointment as the new director “is a fantastic opportunity to build on the Whitworth’s international renown as a leading cultural institution“.
Alistair Hudson replaced as Whitworth director
Lee replaces Alistair Hudson as the Whitworth’s director. Hudson, who has led the gallery since 2018, was reportedly asked to step down from his post in February 2022.
This came after a statement of solidarity with Palestine displayed in the 2021 ‘Cloud Studies’ exhibition resulted in protests, according to the Guardian.
Hudson is now the artistic-scientific chairman of ZKM (Zentrum für Kunst und Medien), an art museum in Karlsruhe, Germany.
Earlier this year, the Manchester Museum, also part of the University of Manchester, reopened for the first time in nearly two years after a £15 million revamp.
Lead image credit: Gwangju Biennale Foundation
