Kathryn Weir appointed artistic director of Madre museum in Naples

Kathryn Weir, former director of the Department of Cultural Development at the Centre Pompidou, has been named artistic director of the Museo Madre in Naples. In an interview with Artribune, she outlines her vision for the museum, emphasizing art as a tool for social transformation and cultural hybridization. Weir plans to bring the Cosmopolis platform—focused on collaborative, research-based artistic practices from non-Western contexts—to Madre. She praises Naples as an ideal laboratory for contemporary art due to its openness and humanistic tradition. Upcoming projects include a collaboration with the Landesmuseum Darmstadt for "Untold Stories" curated by Peter Lindbergh, arriving at Madre in February 2021, and a retrospective on Alessandro Mendini in October 2020. The first edition of the festival Piazza Madre is scheduled for late May. Weir stresses the importance of engaging with local dynamics before launching new initiatives.