LONDON (AFP).- The head of Britain's Tate galleries, Nicholas Serota, is stepping down after a 28-year tenure that included overseeing the creation of London's hugely popular Tate Modern, the organisation said Thursday. 

Serota, who is also credited with turning the Turner Prize into a major force in contemporary art with his chairmanship over many years, will leave next year to become the head of Arts Council England.

"We have been privileged to have in Nicholas Serota one of the world's greatest museum directors and a leader for the visual arts on a global stage," said Tate chairman John Browne in a statement.

"Under his leadership, Tate has become a preeminent cultural organisation nationally and internationally and one of the most visited in the world. 

"He has championed British art and artists throughout the world while at the same time ensuring that Tate has become a much loved, open and accessible institution for the public."

Since Serota was appointed in 1988, the gallery has expanded its collection and its reach, splitting its London base into two -- the Tate Britain and Tate Modern -- and opening several regional branches around the country.

He was the driving force behind the Tate Modern, which opened in 2000 on the site of a former power station on the banks of the River Thames and now attracts more than five million visitors each year.

"It has been an exciting challenge to work with successive chairmen, trustees and groups of extremely talented colleagues to develop the role of Tate in the study, presentation and promotion of British, modern and international art," Serota said in a statement.

"Over the past 30 years there has been a sea-change in public appreciation of the visual arts in this country. Tate is proud to have played a part in this transformation," added the 70-year-old, who was knighted in 1999.

The announcement follows news that Martin Roth will leave the Victoria and Albert Museum this year. He has been director of the London gallery since 2011.



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