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Curator and writer Aric Chen is Het Nieuwe Instituut's new General and Artistic Director

2021-04-09T15:16:00-04:00

The Rotterdam-based institute of architecture, design, and culture Het Nieuwe Instituut ("The New Institute") announces Aric Chen as its new General and Artistic Director. Currently, Chen is based in Shanghai as the professor and founding Director of the Curatorial Lab at the College of Design & Innovation at Tongji University. He will be moving to Rotterdam to begin his position full-time in September 2021 but will assume his new role remotely starting in May.

Aric Chen was born and raised in Chicago, IL before his curatorial practices took him around the globe. He is currently based in Shanghai, CN. Chen received his BA in Architecture and BA in Anthropology from the University of California, Berkeley, and received an MA in History of Decorative Arts and Design from Cooper-Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum and Parsons School of Design. Image © Yoha Jin

During his time as the Lead Curator for Design and Architecture at M+ Chen curated Shifting Objectives which was on display in from ...

Chicago magazine interviews Yesomi Umolu, 2019 Chicago Architecture Biennial artistic director

2018-03-21T15:57:00-04:00

Her own history is as global at the biennial itself: born in Lagos, Nigeria, raised in London, with a deep resume that incorporates curatorial and educational experiences at museums and galleries all over the United States and Great Britain. She’s hit the ground running on the CAB, planning for the third CAB that promises an international influence with love for the city and citizens who host this three-month event.

Anjulie Rao interviews the new CAB artistic director, Yesomi Umolu, for Chicago magazine: "A biennial can’t help but be contemporary and respond to the contemporary conditions. I know that as a biennial that’s what it is set up to do: to have a hold of the historical and yet have strong ground to be propositional, to posit into the future."

Yesomi Umolu appointed as 2019 Chicago Architecture Biennial artistic director

2018-03-06T14:40:00-05:00

Chicago-based curator and writer Yesomi Umolu has been appointed as the artistic director of the 2019 Chicago Architecture Biennial, which will make its return on September 19, 2019 through January 5, 2020. After evaluating candidates from around the world and from various disciplines, the CAB board members and previous Artistic Directors selected Umolu.

Having strong roots in Chicago, Umolu has a background in architectural design and curatorial studies, and she focuses her work on global contemporary art and spatial practices. She is currently the Exhibitions Curator at the Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts at the University of Chicago. She is also a visiting lecturer, critic, and has spoken at various international institutions.

Some of her recent exhibitions explore the politics of the built environment, like the “Kapwani Kiwanga: The sum and its parts”, “The Land Grant: Forest Law”, and “The Museum of Non Participation: The New Deal”.

Chicago Cultural Center. Photo cour...

Pedro Gadanho leaves MoMA to become first artistic director of Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology in Lisbon

2015-07-06T19:08:00-04:00

The new Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology (MAAT) in Lisbon recently selected architect and writer Pedro Gadanho as its first Artistic Director. Gadanho is leaving his post as a curator in MoMA's Department of Architecture and Design, which he's held since 2012 – a relatively quick departure for such a high-status role. He will start at MAAT in October of this year, working to define the museum's cultural program, which aims to be "an exciting contemporary programme at the intersection of art, architecture and technology."

At MoMA, Gadanho worked alongside Senior Curators Martino Stierli (current) and Barry Bergdoll (former) as MoMA put out exhibitions like Tactical Urbanisms. He is already a respected entity in Portugal, having curated the Portugal Pavilion for the 2004 Venice Biennale, as well as numerous other local exhibitions. He holds an architecture degree and a PhD in Architecture and Mass Media from the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Porto (FAUP), as we...