The Ludwig museum in Cologne, largely considered Germany’s most important museum for modern and contemporary art, has named Rita Kersting as deputy director.
Kersting will be joining the museum in September, taking over from Katia Baudin, who was appointed new director of the Kunstmuseen Krefeldat.
Kersting is moving to the Rhineland from the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, where she has worked as curator of contemporary art since 2012 and most recently she curated the group show “we the people” with artists including Danh Võ, Lawrence Weiner, Wolfgang Tillmans, Shilpa Gupta, Susan Hefuna, and others.
The new appointment comes just over a year after director Yilmaz Dziewior joined the museum, in February 2015, taking over from Philipp Kaiser.
“With Rita Kersting the Museum Ludwig has gained an extraordinary international expert on contemporary art who is known for her close co-operation with artists as well as her excellent contacts with private and public collections,” Dziewior said in a statement.
Kersting is no stranger to the cultural landscape of the Rhineland: from 2001 until 2006, she was director of the Kunstverein Düsseldorf, where, together with Anette Freudenberger, she staged the exhibition “Zero Gravity” with Isa Genzken, Martin Kippenberger, Thea Djordjadze, Hans-Peter Feldmann, Martin Boyce, Nicole Wermers, and Wolfgang Tillmans, among others.
“The Museum Ludwig is strong and radiant; not only its modernist art and Pop Art collection are extraordinary, but also its contemporary art. What makes the Museum Ludwig special is its close co-operation with artists,” Kersting said in a statement.