Suzanne Cotter has been named director of the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia. The Melbourne native, who has over thirty years’ international experience as a museum professional, will assume her new post at the Sydney institution in January 2022, replacing Elizabeth Ann Macgregor, who is departing after twenty-two years in the role.

“We are thrilled that an Australian of Suzanne’s caliber will be returning to our shores to lead the MCA’s exciting next chapter,” said Lorraine Tarabay, chair of the museum’s board of directors, in a statement. “The board was impressed by Suzanne’s depth and breadth of experience, international networks, extensive expertise in dealing with multiple stakeholders, and her demonstrated capacity for artistic and strategic vision, ideally placing her to lead the museum at this critical time.”

Cotter since 2018 has served as the director of Luxembourg’s Musée d’Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean, prior to which she spent five years as director of the Museum of Contemporary Art Serralves Foundation in Porto, Portugal. From 2010 to 2012, she was curator at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, where she helped develop the New York Guggenheim’s art program and led a curatorial team for the museum’s Abu Dhabi project; in 2011, she co-curated the Tenth Sharjah Biennial. She has additionally worked as deputy director and curator at large at the UK’s Modern Art Oxford, and as a curator at London’s Hayward Gallery, Whitechapel Art Gallery, and Serpentine Gallery. In 2005, the French government awarded her the prestigious Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.

“I am delighted to take on the role of director of the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia,” said Cotter in a statement. “I am inspired by the MCA and its collection, exhibition and social impact programs, its commitment to living artists, particularly the work of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists, and to the importance of art in the lives of everyone. In the wake of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, and in response to the growing force of environmental and social justice movements globally, the museum has a vital role to play for the diverse communities that it serves and in which they can recognize themselves and their world.”