Australian deputy museum director tipped for top M+ role in Hong Kong
If confirmed, Suhanya Raffel would take over at the helm of the visual culture museum, replacing Swede Lars Nittve
One of Australia’s top art gallery directors looks set to take over the helm at Hong Kong’s hotly anticipated museum of visual culture months after the shock departure of its former director.
Suhanya Raffel, deputy director of Sydney’s flagship public gallery, is reported to be taking over M+, according to the Australian press, though a spokesman for the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority (WKCDA) would not confirm the appointment.
“We will not comment on the appointment until the Board of WKCDA has made a formal decision,” he said on Saturday night following the report in The Australian newspaper.
Raffel, of the Art Gallery of New South Wales, would be the first woman to hold a senior artistic position with the authority. Chief Secretary Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor chairs the board.
Former director Lars Nittve, who laid the groundwork for the museum, left in January, citing frustration with delays in developing the project, which is now scheduled to open in 2019.
