Seeking Director

Can you conceptualize and deliver an artistic program that has local and global significance? Do you champion thoughtful, diverse and experimental artists, their practices and curatorial work? Would you like to realize a program that challenges established ideas about art, or test perceived boundaries within the art field? Do you have, or would like to have, experience in leading an arts institution? If your answers to these questions are yes, consider applying to Kunstinstituut Melly as its new Director.

Established in 1990 as Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art, and renamed in 2021 to Kunstinstituut Melly, this Dutch art institution is located in the port city of Rotterdam. Here, the director is responsible for both artistic vision and business matters. Applicants for this position should be imaginative, resourceful, and eloquent. We are looking for people who are passionate about art and committed to experiencing and thinking about our times; who can inspire and work in a team and who balance the demands of life and work.  

Kunstinstituut Melly has long been considered a leading institution in the art field for its groundbreaking exhibitions, as much as its risk-taking initiatives. It is our mandate to appoint a new director every three to six years, ensuring that we renew our guiding vision and embrace different perspectives. Each director has contributed to forging new formats of exhibition-making and even shaping the role of contemporary art centers. As such, critical reflection on timely issues characterizes the research informing the exhibitions, publications, and programs at Kunstinstituut Melly.

Since 2018, Kunstinstituut Melly’s director is Sofía Hernández Chong Cuy. During her tenure, she has presented an acclaimed exhibitions program, including solo exhibitions by Teresa Margolles in 2018, Iris Kensmil in 2021, Jennifer Tee in 2023, and Lucy Beech (forthcoming). Sofía also spearheaded the institution’s Name Change Initiative and has championed public engagement. This includes transforming the institution’s ground-floor gallery into an admissions-free program space; releasing publications and online media; developing a collective learning methodology and an ecosystem-oriented policy.

Visit our website for more information about this job posting and the application procedure.

The deadline for application ends at 11:59pm CET on Sunday, April 16, 2023. The appointment of the Director is expected to take place by June 30, 2023. The tenure of the new Director commences in 2024.