International curator Karen MacKinnon has been appointed the new Director of Artes Mundi, the Cardiff-based international visual arts exhibition and prize. Based in Wales, MacKinnon has worked as curator for the past sixteen years, including roles at Glynn Vivian Art Gallery, Swansea and Chapter, Cardiff.
In 2005, MacKinnon curated Somewhere Else: Wales at the Venice Biennale, including work by Peter Finnemore, Laura Ford, Paul Granjon and a residency with Bedwyr Williams. In 2008 she co-curated with Maria Clara Bernal the exhibition Displaced: contemporary art from Colombia, which showed the work of 15 artists. She is currently working on an international exchange between seven artists for Glynn Vivian Art Gallery, which takes place over eight venues and public places in Swansea in October 2013.
MacKinnon said: “I am thrilled to take up the post of Director for Artes Mundi. Artes Mundi is a very important international initiative, presenting and supporting contemporary artists at pivotal moments of their careers. It brings together some of the world’s leading artists in one powerful biennial exhibition that speaks of the human condition in so many different ways…
“I look forward to developing further partnerships, collaborations and global networks to create a web of activity celebrating the vitality and purpose of contemporary art at the heart of our international culture.”
Mathew Prichard CBE, Chairman of Artes Mundi said: “Karen will be our first Welsh Director and offers a wealth of experience and understanding of the arts scene both in Wales and internationally.”
MacKinnon will take up her new post in July.
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