Home

Expat director lured home to helm MCA

Tony MagnussonAAP
Suzanne Cotter is the incoming director of Sydney's Museum of Contemporary Art.
Camera IconSuzanne Cotter is the incoming director of Sydney's Museum of Contemporary Art. Credit: AAP

The newly-appointed director at Sydney's Museum of Contemporary Art will bring 'home' years of experience from Europe.

Born and raised in Melbourne, Suzanne Cotter was on Thursday named as incoming director at the MCA overlooking Circular Quay.

She has been director of the Musee d'Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean (MUDAM) in Luxembourg since 2018.

Prior to that, she led the Museum of Contemporary Art of the Serralves Foundation in Porto, Portugal for five years.

Get in front of tomorrow's news for FREE

Journalism for the curious Australian across politics, business, culture and opinion.

READ NOW

Cotter has also worked as a curator for the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation New York, as the deputy director of Modern Art Oxford in the UK, and in curatorial positions at the Hayward Gallery, Whitechapel Art Gallery and Serpentine Gallery in London.

Chair of MCA's board of directors, Lorraine Tarabay, said Cotter, who has more than three decades of international experience, brings a strong network of connections to the role.

"Suzanne has worked across several important contemporary art institutions in Europe, the United States and the Middle East," Tarabay said.

"She is greatly respected by artists and her peers globally.

"We are thrilled that an Australian of Suzanne's calibre will be returning to our shores to lead the MCA's exciting next chapter."

Cotter said she was delighted to take on the role of leading such an inspirational institution.

"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," she said.

Cotter takes over from longstanding director Elizabeth Ann Macgregor, who will finish in October.

Cotter will leave MUDAM in December and begin at the MCA in early January 2022.

Get the latest news from thewest.com.au in your inbox.

Sign up for our emails