Sydney’s AGNSW Appoints First Female Director in 154 Years
By Karen May Wai Plumptre
Portrait of MAUD PAGE. Photo by Anna Kucera. Courtesy the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney.
On March 28, Maud Page stepped up as the new director of Sydney’s Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW), becoming the institution’s first female leader in its 154-year history. The move signals a historical shift for NSW’s art scene, where women now oversee all major galleries and museums.
Page joined AGNSW in 2017 as deputy director and director of collections, following her previous role as deputy director and senior curator of Pacific art at the Queensland Art Gallery & Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA) in Brisbane. Her predecessor, Michael Brand, was originally expected to depart in July after serving a 13-year tenure, but his six months’ notice was effectively nullified with this internal appointment.
In line with Page’s long-running advocacy for First Nations art, AGNSW is expected to refocus its program on Indigenous creatives under her leadership.
Karen May Wai Plumptre is an editorial intern at ArtAsiaPacific.
