The CIMAM's 54th Annual Conference ends with the appointment of Suhanya Raffel as President of CIMAM 2023-25
- Suhanya Raffel, Director of M+ Hong Kong, has been appointed CIMAM President for the 2023-25 period by the outgoing and newly elected Board members.
- This year's CIMAM Annual Conference, hosted by Es Baluard Museu d'Art Contemporani de Palma, was attended by more than 220 modern and contemporary art museum professionals from 49 countries to listen attentively and act in these times of post-pandemic, climate crisis, war, and resurgent conservative values.
- The elected CIMAM Board, resulting from the cast votes of CIMAM members, counts with nine incoming and six re-elected members representing CIMAM's international reach.
- The Museo de Arte Moderno de Buenos Aires will host the 55th edition of the CIMAM Annual Conference in 2023.
- Three nominations were selected for the second edition of the Outstanding Museum Practices Award: Kokama Museums, Manaus, Amazonia, Brazil; Provincial Museum of Fine Arts "Rosa Galisteo de Rodriguez, Santa Fe, Argentina, and MAIIAM Contemporary Art Museum, Chiang Mai, Thailand.
Suhanya Raffel, Director of M+ Hong Kong, elected new President of CIMAM for the 2023–25 term
"At the conclusion of this year's CIMAM annual conference titled 'The Attentive Museum', the CIMAM membership has voted in a Board with an international reach that reminds us of our growing community of institutions worldwide. To serve as the next President of CIMAM is an honor, and I am excited to work together with my fellow board members to contribute to our modern and contemporary art museum community as we face a complex and challenging world.
The past three years have seen much tumult and division, with the global Covid-19 pandemic adding a further degree of separation within our societies. In this context, the roles our museums play in bringing people together, with the work of artists providing necessary insight, vision, and perspective has become ever more urgent.
Over the next three years, the CIMAM Board will continue to focus on our values, bringing our members together through online forums by continuing our Rapid Response Webinars while deepening our engagement in building institutions that implement sustainability processes as we grapple with the climate crisis. The key Museum Watch program, a cornerstone of CIMAM, has built a vital advocacy role, supporting our colleagues while promoting strong and sustainable governance.
The ongoing everyday work of CIMAM would not be possible without the contributions of our champions, including our Founding Patrons, Patrons, and Supporters, who provide us with the means to continue the vital CIMAM work. I sincerely thank them.
On behalf of the Board, I look forward to working with you to further strengthen and bring together our diverse communities through CIMAM".
The outgoing and incoming Presidents, Mami Kataoka and Suhanya Raffel, sincerely appreciated the efforts and the important work of the outgoing Board.
Agustin Pérez Rubio, Chair of CIMAM’s Annual Conference Content Committee
Over 220 modern and contemporary art curators and museum professionals from 49 countries attended this year's CIMAM Annual Conference's 15 speaker presentations that proposed museums to be open spaces for dialogue with their communities and be attentive to their needs. The first day reflected on how museums should unlearn and modify their governance mechanisms to be more permeable to society. The second day addressed the need to eradicate the values of the colonial and cisheteropatriarchal Eurocentric museum. And the third day stressed the need to become aware and act in extreme emergencies, such as the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
CIMAM Board 2023–25
The new CIMAM Board, designated by the current CIMAM community of over 700 professional members from 80 countries, was announced at the CIMAM 2022 General Assembly. The newly elected Board members will contribute their experience and knowledge to developing the different CIMAM working groups during the next three years. Their names are:
Zeina Arida, Director, Mathaf (Arab Museum of Modern Art), Doha, Qatar. Bart De Baere, Director, M HKA, Antwerp, Belgium. Suzanne Cotter, Director, Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Sydney, Australia. Joselina Cruz, Director/Curator, Museum of Contemporary Art and Design (MCAD) Manila, Philippines. Amanda de la Garza, Director, MUAC, Mexico City, Mexico. Leevi Haapala, Director, Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art / National Gallery of Finland, Helsinki, Finland. Clara Kim, Chief Curator and Director of Curatorial Affairs, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, USA. Malgorzata Ludwisiak, Chief Curator, Department of Modern Art, National Museum of Gdansk, Poland. Chus Martinez, Director, Art Gender Nature Institute, Basel, Switzerland. Victoria Noorthoorn, Director, Museo de Arte Moderno de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Agustín Pérez Rubio, Former director of MUSAC, MALBA, curator of the 11th Berlin Biennale, independent curator, Madrid, Spain. Suhanya Raffel, Director, M+ Museum, Hong Kong,. Kamini Sawhney, Director, Museum of Art and Photography, Bangalore, India. Kitty Scott, Deputy Director Chief Curator, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Canada. Yu Jin SENG, Deputy Director (Curatorial and Research), National Gallery Singapore, Singapore.
The Museo de Arte Moderno de Buenos Aires will host CIMAM’s 2023 Annual Conference
Its director and CIMAM Board Member Victoria Noorthoorn, thanked the CIMAM Board and the Government of the City of Buenos Aires, as well as the Asociación de Amigos del Moderno and local foundations and major patrons, for their support in this candidacy.
Outstanding Museum Practice Award 2022
The three awarded practices are based on a key criterion: What can we learn from the museums? This edition has rewarded the commitment and willingness of institutions to move away from patriarchal and colonial structures and museum models of European history. The three award-winning practices are:
1.Kokama Museums, Manaus, Amazonia, Brazil
Two "Kokama" museums are working together in Manaus, rooted in the local community, created by and for them to preserve traditional knowledge, language and craftsmanship.
2.Provincial Museum of Fine Arts "Rosa Galisteo de Rodriguez, Santa Fe, Argentina
Nominated for the process of institutional transparency and democratization of the collection to redefine access to its heritage and renew the link with the artistic community through new exhibition space and the "Museo Tomado" project.
3.MAIIAM Contemporary Art Museum, Chiang Mai, Thailand.
The Museum has been serving its community and the global art ecology by presenting impactful exhibitions of underrepresented Thai artists and international names.
CIMAM's new membership fees
Victoria Noorthoorn, leader of this initiative, presented the new fees to CIMAM members. The plans of the Board to change the fees for a more equitable scheme aligned to ICOM were announced in the 2021 General Assembly. The revised fees were approved in this General Assembly and will be implemented for the upcoming 3-year membership term 2023-25.
CIMAM's 2022 Annual Conference wouldn't be possible without the generous support of Es Baluard Museu d'Art Contemporani de Palma, the Government of the Balearic Islands, Consell de Mallorca, Palma City Council, the Spanish Ministry of Culture and Sport as partners and co-organizers of this event and the 23 galleries and museums in Palma, Ibiza, and Menorca.
CIMAM is always grateful to:
Major Patron: Azcuy Foundation.
Founding Patrons: Fukutake Foundation, Fondation Louis Vuitton, Marc and Josée Gensollen, Leeum Samsung Museum of Art, Fundacion "la Caixa".
Patrons: Claudio Engel and Mori Art Museum.
Supporters: SAHA—Supporting Contemporary Art from Turkey, Sherman Centre for Culture and Ideas (SCCI), Albert M.A. Groot, and Fundación Botín.
2022 Travel Grant Funders:
The Getty Foundation, Byucksan Cultural Foundation, OCA–Office of Contemporary Art Norway, Mercedes Vilardell, SAHA—Support for Contemporary Art Turkey, Beijing Public Art and Culture Foundation, and Acción Cultural Española.