– The appointment of Hou Hanru as Artistic Director of MAXXI, will permit the true launch of this museum world-wide, says board member Monique Veaute.
On 1 August Foundation MAXXI, the National Museum of XXI Century Arts in Rome, Italy, announced that Chinese-born art curator and critic Hou Hanru is appointet to be the new Artistic Director of MAXXI and will be in charge of the cultural programme at the museum from September 2013. The announcement was made by Giovanna Melandri, President of the Fondazione MAXXI, together with the board members Beatrice Trussardi and Monique Veaute.
The museum which describes itself as «an institution at the forefront of contemporary creativity in Italy and in the world» is managed by a Foundation constituted in the July of 2009 by the Ministry for Cultural Heritage and Activities and houses two museums: MAXXI Arte and MAXXI Architettura. The museum, designed by british architect Zaha Hadid and located in Rome’s Flaminio quarter, intends «to be a container for the exhibition of the works of art of our century, but also a place for cultural innovation and the overlapping of languages, a laboratory for artistic experimentation, a machine for the production of aesthetic materials of our time», according to the museums website.
The Artistic Director will work with Margherita Guccione and Anna Mattirolo, directors of MAXXI Architettura and MAXXI Arte, to offer new impetus to the programming of the museum, the Fondation explains in a press release.
– Emphasing interactions between different disciplines and the force of research and experimentation, situated in an innovative work of architecture thrived from one of the most ancient centres of civilisation, the museum has great potentials to become a unique leading institution in the multitude of global art and architecture scene. Having worked in various contexts across the world, notably in Asia, Europe and America, I’m full of hope and energy to participate in the invention and growth of this wonderful museum, Hanru states in the press release.
Hou Hanru was born in 1963 in Guangzhou, China. He worked at San Francisco Art Institute as Director of Exhibitions and Public Program and Chair of Exhibition and Museum Studies from 2006 to 2012. He is co-director of the first World Biennale Forum (Gwangju, 2012). He has curated numerous exhibitions including China/Avant-Garde (1989), Parisien(ne)s (1997), Cities On The Move (1997–2000), Shanghai Biennale (2000),Gwangju Biennale (2002), Venice Biennale (French Pavilion, 1999, Z.O.U. — Zone Of Urgency, 2003, Chinese Pavilion, 2007), Nuit Blanche (2004, Paris), the 2nd Guangzhou Triennial (2005), the 2nd Tirana Biennial (2005), the 10th Istanbul Biennial (2007), Global Multitude (Luxembourg 2007), Trans(cient)City (Luxembourg 2007), EV+A 2008 (Limerick), and The Spectacle of the Everyday, The 10th Lyon Biennale (Lyon, 2009). He is currently curating the 5th Auckland Triennial (Auckland, New Zealand, May – August 2013).