Elena Filipovic Takes Szymczyk’s Spot at Kunsthalle Basel

American curator Elena Filipovic will assume the directorship of the Kunsthalle Basel in November. The announcement on Monday followed Documenta 14 artistic director Adam Szymczyk’s resignation in order to focus on preparations for the quinquennial exhibition.

Does Filipovic’s appointment spell major change for the venerable Swiss institution? In a word, no, and all the better for it. Filipovic even worked along side her predecessor, Szymczyk, on the 2008 Berlin Biennale.

Currently a senior curator at the WIELS Contemporary Art Centre in Brussels, Filipovic has been celebrated recently for her work on Alina Szapocznikow’s posthumous retrospective Sculpture Undone, 1955-1972, as well as shows with young aritsts such as Leigh Ledare, Klara Lidén, and Lorna Macintyre.