How can art be brought into society and people be thought of less as its viewer than as its user? After a long search, the new ZKM boss has been found. And he has many plans.
Karlsruhe (dpa / lsw) – The future head of the Center for Art and Media (ZKM) in Karlsruhe has been determined. The British curator and museum director Alistair Hudson will succeed the long-standing director of the house, Peter Weibel. Hudson said at his presentation on Monday that he wanted to open the ZKM even more towards society. “Art should benefit society and focus on people.” To this end, he will organize more events, invite more people to the ZKM and try to interest those in art who would otherwise never have dealt with it.
Hudson will take office on April 1 next year and is contractually bound for five years. In a read message, Weibel, who has been running the house since 1999, called Hudson an “excellent man” who would provide the right impetus. The board of trustees had previously decided unanimously in favor of the British. A search committee had been on the lookout for Weibel’s successor for many months. About 50 applications were viewed.
Hudson, 53, has been director of the Manchester Art Gallery, the city’s museum, and The Whitworth, part of the University of Manchester, since 2018. He now wants to move his residence to Karlsruhe – and also learn German, it was said.
Karlsruhe’s Lord Mayor and Foundation Council Chairman Frank Mentrup (SPD) called Hudson the “dream cast” for the realignment of the ZKM. He will give the house the necessary new impetus. State Secretary for the Arts Petra Olschowski (Greens), who attended the press conference in Karlsruhe from Stuttgart, referred to the international experience of the curator and museum director.
There was a brief debate about Hudson in Manchester a few months ago when he presented an installation commissioned by the ZKM and also shown elsewhere at The Whitworth Museum. The “Cloud Studies” installation was dedicated to the effects of state violence on ecological systems worldwide – also in locations such as Palestine or Beirut. An organization of Jewish lawyers had protested against the presentation of “Cloud Studies”.
