VIENNA.- "mumok is exceptional—as an institution it not only houses one of the most important collections of modern and contemporary art, but continues to foster art’s ability to mirror and shift a given understanding of the present“, says designated Director General Fatima Hellberg. „It is thrilling, and a deep honor, to build on the rich legacy and history of this institution in a city that is so strongly committed to the arts, and thereby continue the remarkable work of Karola Kraus. I look forward to extending the rigorous and bold tradition of the institution, whilst considering novel ways of activating and bringing liveness to its collection and expanding its public. My work is built on a belief in the public museum as a civic space and in the potential of developing spaces of reflection, experience, and confrontation at that remarkable threshold where life meets art, and art meets life“.

Fatima Hellberg (b. 1986, Sweden) is a curator and director of Bonner Kunstverein. She has curated exhibitions and projects in institutions internationally, including: Tate Modern; Institute of Contemporary Arts, London; CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts, San Francisco; Malmö Konsthall and Museion, Bolzano. Her curatorial practice is formulated in close dialogue with artists, often with long-running collaborations and a marked attention to the experiential qualities of the viewer and exhibition-making as form. A key concern is a holistic approach to the institution, where programme, communication, outreach, and internal structures are approached in connection and synergy. The notion of a Haltung, which connects a practice of participation, inclusion and sustainability—understood in how one works together and the ethics of the institution—are key.

Prior to her current role, Hellberg was Artistic Director of Künstlerhaus Stuttgart (2015–19). In London, she served as curator at Cubitt, and Electra, a contemporary arts organisation with a longstanding dedication to gender and feminism.

Hellberg studied Visual Culture and History of Art at Oxford University and Curating Contemporary Art at Royal College of Art, London. She has taught and lectured at Sandberg Institute, Amsterdam; Städelschule, Frankfurt; Oxford University and the Art Academy of Düsseldorf, Akademie der bildenden Künste Wien, among others. Hellberg has edited and written for numerous catalogues and contributed to journals including Texte zur Kunst, Frieze Magazine, Kunstkritikk, Afterall and Kunstforum. Selected edited publications include: Ellen Cantor: A history of the world as it has become known to me; Divine Drudgery and David Medalla: Parables of Friendship with the forthcoming title, Gregg Bordowitz: A Route, a Direction, an Inclination.

During Hellberg’s directorship, the Bonner Kunstverein has received the following prizes: David Medalla: Parables of Friendship, lauded as ‘Special Exhibition of the Year’ by AICA (Association Internationale des Critiques d'Art) and Bonner Kunstverein, ‘Kunstverein of the Year’ by the ADKV-ART COLOGNE Award 2022. Forthcoming projects include exhibitions at Camden Art Centre, London and Haus Mödrath, Kerpen.

Managing director Cornelia Lamprechter will be reappointed for a further term of office.