Gabi Ngcobo to Lead Kunstinstituut Melly

Rotterdam’s Kunstinstituut Melly has announced South African curator, artist, and educator Gabi Ngcobo as its next director, effective January 2024. Ngcobo was chosen by the museum’s board following an open-call process and will take over from Sofía Hernández Chong Cuy, who has led the institution since 2018. Museum policy mandates a change in directors every six years. The search committee was drawn to Ngcobo owing to her collaborative leadership style and deep managerial and curatorial knowledge. “We are convinced that Gabi Ngcobo’s experience and ideas will be of great significance to our institution in the coming years, as much as to the field of contemporary art in the Netherlands and abroad,” said Annet Lekkerkerker, chair of the museum’s supervisory board, in a statement.

“We look forward to her arrival, and to warmly welcome her at Melly.”RelatedHELEN FRANKENTHALER FOUNDATION SUED FOR “DESTROYING” PAINTER’S LEGACYBMA CREATES PAID INTERNSHIPS HONORING VALERIE MAYNARD Ngcobo comes to the museum from the Javett Art Centre at South Africa’s University of Pretoria, where she is curatorial director. Having gained acclaim as an independent curator, Ngcobo in 2018 curated the Tenth Berlin Biennale; two years prior, she served as a cocurator of the Thirty-Second São Paulo Biennale. Recent curatorial efforts include 2022’s “The Show Is Over,” at the South London Gallery, and 2021’s “The ‘T’ Is Silent,” which she cocurated with artist Oscar Murillo at the Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens in Deurle, Belgium. Ngcobo in a statement expressed excitement regarding her new role, lauding the museum as “an institution with a critical history; an institution that has had to face head-on challenging questions of our time.” Noting that she was looking forward to working with the institution’s team, she outlined her own intentions, saying, “Over the years, Melly has strengthened its position locally by embracing a collaborative approach. I am dedicated to ensuring that it remains human friendly, accountable, and future-looking.”.