Artwork historian and curator Miren Arzalluz has been appointed director basic of the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao in Spain, the establishment introduced in a press release. She begins her tenure on April 1.
Arzalluz was chosen by the museum’s board of trustees following a world choice course of over the previous few months. She involves the museum with worldwide expertise, together with her present place as director of the Style Museum–Palais Galliera in Paris, which she has held for six years. In Paris, Arzalluz has overseen a renewal and growth plan, in addition to a collaboration with Paris Musées and the town of Paris. Arzalluz can also be a member of Bilbao’s Superb Arts Museum’s Creative Advisory Committee.
In 2024, Arzalluz acquired the Chevalière de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Ministry of Tradition. She can also be serving as a member of the jury for the 2025 US Nationwide Design Awards for the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum in New York.
She was beforehand director of the general public establishment Etxepare Euskal Institutua underneath the Basque Authorities, which was created to advertise Basque language and modern tradition internationally. Previous to that, she oversaw exhibitions and collections as chief curator of the Balenciaga Museum and Basis.
Arzalluz holds a PhD in Historical past from Bilbao’s Deusto College, an MA in Artwork Historical past from London’s Courtauld Institute of Artwork, and an MA in Comparative Politics from London College of Economics.
Arzalluz succeeds Juan Ignacio Vidarte, who will start coaching her on March 1 till she formally takes the helm on April 1. Following three many years as director, Vidarte introduced his plans to step down earlier this yr in Could. For his half, Vidarte facilitated main change inside the museum from overseeing its preliminary growth in 1992 to spearheading the development of the establishment’s Frank Gehry-designed constructing.
“I consider it’s my accountability to advertise generational change by facilitating the method of figuring out the one who will lead the museum within the coming years, writing one other chapter in its historical past, and to provide option to new voices and initiatives that can proceed this success story. As an establishment dedicated to the artwork of as we speak, the museum should stay dynamic and mirror the concepts and views of the subsequent and rising generations. Guiding this transition is my dedication,” Vidarte defined on the time of his announcement in a press release.
The choice course of for Vidarte’s successor was launched through the Berlin–primarily based worldwide agency Antonia Josten, which has expertise recruiting executives within the artwork and cultural sector. Per the assertion, Arzalluz was chosen for her worldwide expertise and popularity amongst cultural establishments, in addition to her skill to deliver collectively “native and international values.”