Suzanne Cotter

Suzanne Cotter. Director, Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Sydney, Australia

Years professionally involved in the contemporary art museum field: 28 years

Have you served on another board or organization similar to CIMAM? Yes

If so, where and how long have you served? CIMAM Board Member since 2017, Member of Mophradat since 2018.

Short bio. Describe also your involvement with CIMAM and the museum community:

I have over 25 years experience as a curator of contemporary art and museum director with a professional network that extends from Europe and the US to Brazil, parts of the Arab speaking world and Australia. I am deeply committed to museums and their importance in society and to the potential for collaborative discussion, production and exchange and to their empowerment of individuals and communities. As a current member of CIMAM since 2017, I have had the privilege of engaging with CIMAM members and fellow Board members on a range of issues, from Museum Watch to addressing Museums in a time of global pandemic. With a history of Board appointments for Arts and cultural organisations, I have gained significant experience in developing networks and in advocacy. These activities are embedded in my deep commitment to the Arts and artists and their necessity in our world, in space and in time.

Motivation Statement: How can you contribute to CIMAM's mission and strategic goals by being a Member of the Board? (i.e strategy, membership, fundraising, governance, network in strategic regions, availability, knowledge or skills in a specific area):

As a standing member of the CIMAM Board, I can contribute to its ongoing work in connecting museums and museum professionals globally and in enabling discussion and engagement with the urgent challenges of our times, from inequity and social justice and the recognition of First Nations voices, to governance and planetary sustainability.

With my long-standing experience as a museum professional my and sustained professional network, I can bring perspective, experience and encourage fresh thinking as we look to the sustainability of museums in our ever-uncertain future. As both a curator and museum director, I have had the privilege of working in vastly diverse cultural, economic and political contexts that have involved engaging with the specificities of regional and local questions of governance and operational models.

These models have all been impacted by significant historic events including Brexit, the Covid pandemic and the War in Ukraine, to name only the most recent.

Describe briefly the expectations of your involvement as a CIMAM Board member and how you envision CIMAM's priorities in the next years:

As a CIMAM Board member, and currently Secretary-Treasurer to the Board, I have a good understanding of the expectations of the role of Board member.

I believe I can provide continuity and give confidence to a new generation of Board members who will, I hope, be elected for this next mandate.

The priorities for the next years for CIMAM will build upon the work that had been done in the past decade in ensuring CIMAM's continued relevance to its members, developing even deeper networks, and ability to advocate and influence for museums in the world and in their diverse contexts.

I see an engagement with indigeneity and the perspectives of First Nations peoples as a priority, along with equity and inclusion and addressing planetary well-being through sustainable visions and practices. I believe I can bring to the CIMAM Board the confidence of experience and an openness to possibility.