After years working overseas as a curator and gallery director, Suzanne Cotter will return home to Australia as the new director of the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia (MCA) in Sydney.
Cotter will take up the reins in early January 2022, replacing Elizabeth Ann Macgregor OBE who resigned in March 2021 after more than two decades in the role.
Currently based in Luxembourg as director of the Musée d’Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean (MUDAM), Cotter is also the former director of the Museum of Contemporary Art of the Serralves Foundation in Porto, Portugal, and has held numerous curatorial roles including at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation New York; the Hayward Gallery, Whitechapel Art Gallery, and the Serpentine Gallery in London; and as co-curator of the 10th Sharjah Biennial in the United Arab Emirates.
“I am delighted to take on the role of director of the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia (MCA). I am inspired by the MCA and its collection, exhibition and social impact programs, its commitment to living artists, particularly the work of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists, and to the importance of art in the lives of everyone,” said Suzanne Cotter.
In accepting her appointment, Cotter foregrounded the importance of art as an agent for social change. “In the wake of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and in response to the growing force of environmental and social justice movements globally, the museum has a vital role to play for the diverse communities that it serves, in which they can recognise themselves and their world,” she said. “The MCA is responding to this context and ensuring its place as an outstanding institution in Australian cultural life. I am honoured to have been given the opportunity to lead the MCA’s exceptional team and to participate in shaping the Museum’s future.”
Chairman of the MCA board of directors Lorraine Tarabay said, “We are thrilled that an Australian of Suzanne’s calibre will be returning to our shores to lead the MCA’s exciting next chapter. The board was impressed by Suzanne’s depth and breadth of experience, international networks, extensive expertise in dealing with multiple stakeholders and her demonstrated capacity for artistic and strategic vision, ideally placing her to lead the Museum at this critical time.”
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