Samia Meah
Tate Modern Director FRANCES MORRIS is stepping down in April, following a seven-year tenure.
Morris became the first woman to lead Tate Modern when she succeeded CHRIS DERCON. She will remain as Director Emerita to “ensure a smooth transition to a new leadership”.
Since joining Tate Modern as a young curator in 1987, Morris has assumed various roles. She was promoted to Head of Displays in 2000 and then appointed to Director of the International Art Collection in 2006. Within these roles, she was responsible for diversifying the gallery's collection and programme.
Morris will step down to pursue “curatorial projects in the UK and abroad,” including a book on modernism and maintaining an involvement in the arts sector’s response to the climate emergency.
MARIA BALSHAW, Director of Tate and ROLAND RUDD, Tate's Chair, said Morris has been pivotal to the museum’s development: “From championing women artists to expanding the international scope of our collection, and from realising Tate Modern’s radical opening displays in 2000 to overseeing the museum’s expansion and transformation in 2016.”
“As audiences flood back into the museum, this feels like a good moment to go out on a high,” Morris commented.