Stephanie Rosenthal to Direct 2016 Sydney Biennial

Stephanie Rosenthal, chief curator of London’s Hayward Gallery, has been tapped to serve as artistic director for the 2016 Sydney Biennial.

At the Hayward, she has curated a series of high-profile exhibitions including MOVE: Choreographing You (2010), Art of Change: New Directions from China (2012), and Pipilotti Rist: Eyeball Massage (2012). Rosenthal joined the British institution in 2007 after over a decade working at the Haus der Kunst in Munich.

“It is a true pleasure and honour to take on the role of Artistic Director for 2016,” she commented. “As one of the oldest Biennales, it is an ideal opportunity to assess what such an event could and should do in a location like Sydney where so many different cultures and languages come together. I look forward to showing great artists, and to working with a fantastic team to realise a meaningful and relevant 20th Biennale of Sydney.”

Rosenthal takes the helm after a rocky 2014 edition, which has left the biennial with little funding and buried in controversy.