Dr Simon Maidment has been appointed Associate Director, Art Museums at the University of Melbourne. Dr Maidment is currently Senior Curator of Contemporary Art at the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV). In his new role he will provide leadership to the Ian Potter Museum of Art, Buxton Contemporary and the Old Quad.
Rose Hiscock, Director of Museums and Collections at the University said the appointment of Dr Maidment heralds an exciting chapter for the University’s art museums “We are delighted to appoint a candidate of the calibre of Dr Maidment. With experience developing large-scale contemporary arts exhibitions including two NGV Triennials, and exhibitions from Australian and international contemporary artists such as Shirin Neshat, Julian Opie and David Hockney, Simon will bring scholarship and vitality to this role.”
Dr Maidment joined the NGV in 2013 and since then has curated several group, thematic and solo exhibitions, and produced several catalogues, publications and monographs including a forthcoming publication on Camille Henrot. He was previously Founding Director of the non-profit Satellite Art Projects, and in 2018 completed a PhD at the University of Melbourne focussing on arts’ relationship to social and political change.
Dr Maidment said “I am excited by this wonderful opportunity to leverage the talents and scholarship across the University, in a collaborative setting, to foreground important and far-reaching discussions, while welcoming broad audiences to engage with our programming. The Ian Potter Museum of Art and Buxton Contemporary provide important cultural bookends to our city and I look forward to extending their role for students and community audiences alike,”. Dr Maidment will commence in the role in April.
