AMSTERDAM.- The Supervisory Board of de Appel announced that Sofia Patat (Venice, 1982) will take on the position of managing director of de Appel, starting in January 2023. She will take over from Maaike Lauwaert, who fulfilled this position since 2016. Previously, Patat worked as Account Manager Foundations at the Stedelijk Museum, where she was also a member of the Works Council. Over the last 15 years she has worked in the international visual arts section, amongst others at the Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten, where she was responsible for International Developments and Partnerships, and at the Tropenmuseum and the Manifesta Foundation as Head of the Grants Department.

Sofia Patat: “I am grateful to the Supervisory Board for their confidence in me, and I am looking forward to contribute to this new chapter in the long history of de Appel, together with Lara Khaldi."

Orlando Maaike Gouwenberg, Chair of the Supervisory Board: “With Sofia Patat, we choose united and determinately for a talented director with an impeccable reputation. Her broad experience with fund-raising and relationship maintenance, combined with her enthusiasm, people skills and her excitement for new challenges, give us confidence in our choice, and thereby in the new managerial tandem that Sofia will form together with Lara Khaldi.”