The British Museum has appointed the Nationwide Portrait Gallery head, Nicholas Cullinan, as its new director, after it emerged final yr that tons of of objects had been allegedly stolen from the museum’s assortment.
He replaces the interim director, Sir Mark Jones, the previous head of the Victoria and Albert Museum, who stood in for the previous director Hartwig Fischer. Fischer resigned final yr over the scandal.
Cullinan, whose appointment was authorized by the board of trustees and Rishi Sunak, will take over the function from Jones in the summertime.
Cullinan mentioned: “One of many best museums on the planet, it’s an honour to grow to be the subsequent director of the British Museum.
“I sit up for becoming a member of its fantastic and devoted workers and to work with its vastly spectacular board in main it into a brand new chapter.
“It will embody probably the most vital transformations, each architectural and mental, taking place in any museum globally, to proceed making the British Museum probably the most engaged and collaborative it may be.”
Cullinan faces the fallout from a discovering final yr that 1,500 artefacts from the museum assortment had been “lacking, stolen or broken”, in addition to a renovation.
He was appointed director of the Nationwide Portrait Gallery in April 2015 and oversaw the three-year refurbishment of the Trafalgar Sq. museum and its reopening.
Cullinan beforehand labored on the Metropolitan Museum of Artwork in New York and Tate Trendy in London.
George Osborne, the chair of the British Museum, mentioned the trustees selected Cullinan as he “brings confirmed management at present and nice potential for tomorrow”.
“I couldn’t be extra thrilled for Nick and extra excited for us as we enter this new chapter within the lengthy story of the British Museum with confidence, and again on the entrance foot.”
