Liverpool Biennial announces new director

Fatoş Üstek has been appointed as the new Director of Liverpool Biennial.

The 38-year-old will take up her position in May, replacing current director Sally Tallant who is leaving Liverpool for a new role in the US.

Turkish-born Üstek comes to the city from the David Roberts Art Foundation in London where she is director and chief curator.

Described as a rising star in the international art world, the curator and art writer was associate curator for the 10th Gwangju Biennale in South Korea in 2014, before going on to curate the internationally acclaimed fig-2, 50 projects in 50 weeks in London the following year, and then Art Night 2017 in East London.

Most recently she curated Do Ho Suh’s largest commission in the UK for Art Night and Sculpture in the City.

She is also a founding member of the Association of Women in the Arts.

She said today: “I’m thrilled to take up the role as Director of Liverpool Biennial. Through 10 editions, Liverpool Biennial has gained a reputation for being one of the most important contemporary art events accessible to the large national and international public.

Fatoş Üstek takes over the role of Biennial director from Sally Tallant

“In my new role I will be taking Liverpool as my point of reference, while reflecting on current global discourses and developments in the international arena. I look forward to inviting everyone to join me and the Liverpool Biennial team in the city of Liverpool in 2020 for the 11th Biennial.”

Sally Tallant announced in November she was set to leave Liverpool Biennial after seven years to take up a new role at The Queens Museum in Flushing Meadow, New York.

Üstek is the latest woman to take on a leading role in Liverpool’s cultural sector, joining female leaders of organisations including Culture Liverpool, Tate Liverpool, National Museums Liverpool, the Bluecoat and FACT.