Via PR

EXPO CHICAGO, the international exposition of contemporary & modern art announced its curatorial initiatives for the fair's ninth edition, taking place April 7 – 10, 2022. EXPO CHICAGO will debut its inaugural Directors Summit, which will gather eight emerging art museum leaders from across the country for a series of conversations on the future of museum leadership and institutional reinvention. This program will augment an expanded, year-round Curatorial Forum program alongside its annual Curatorial Exchange, which together will gather curators from nine countries to discuss shared perspectives, goals and challenges facing the field. The exposition’s robust curatorial initiatives support its larger mission to foster the critical international creative dialogues taking place in the Midwest today.

“Each year EXPO CHICAGO has made an industry-leading commitment to host and engage a broad range of international curators as a part of our Curatorial Initiatives programming,” said Tony Karman, President | Director. “We look forward to welcoming an expanded group in 2022 and we are deeply grateful for the ongoing partnership with Independent Curators International (ICI) in shaping our annual Forum. As we continue to innovate and expand our programming in service to our exhibitors and audience, we are proud to introduce the Directors Summit. This inaugural initiative will convene national emerging museum leadership in Chicago during the exposition and provide an open discourse on critical issues that many museums are facing today.”

Taking place throughout the ninth edition of the fair, the inaugural Directors Summit will bring together a diverse group of emerging art museum leaders from across the United States for a three-day program addressing the shifting dynamics of museum leadership today. Shaped in partnership with museum consultant Jill Snyder, the Directors Summit is centered on two public roundtable discussions that will examine how to forge equitable and sustainable movement forward for art museums and institutions and include a keynote lecture at University Club of Chicago.

In light of this historic moment of disruption in the field, museum leaders nationwide will gather to reimagine how museums function in society. Public roundtable discussions will focus on exploring a number of questions, including: What do we retain? What do we replace? Do we remove barriers or redesign systems? Or both? How can we dismantle inequitable systems while remaining sustainable? In lively conversation, this cohort will share insights and examples that demonstrate how they are leading from an imperfect past to create a more equitable future. The Directors Summit is supported by Sotheby’s, in addition to the Thoma Foundation and University Club of Chicago.

“EXPO CHICAGO has a longstanding history as a global convener for curatorial and institutional leaders, which made the formation and presentation of the inaugural Directors Summit a natural extension of its annual critically acclaimed programming,” said Jill
Snyder. “As the museum field at large accelerates necessary self-examination and reinvention, the intent for the Summit is to create a convening opportunity, through public dialogue, for emerging museum leaders to address challenges, share aspirations, and to provide insights on the many positive changes that can or have been implemented to fortify the communal foundation of cultural institutions.”

View the list of participating directors here