Comment | Why museum leadership needs to decentralise

"The burden of the "director" has become a setup for disappointment-an impossible demand to be at once a corporate chief executive officer, a chief fundraiser and a radical visionary. We demand they secure the leaking roof and the endowment while simultaneously reimagining the canon."

"Leadership, within this archaic framework, remains stubbornly framed as a top-down, heroic and deeply individualised pursuit. It relies on the myth of the singular figurehead who directs the flow of culture from the "centre" to the "periphery"."

"Building new cultural infrastructure is rarely a linear process. The genesis of such projects is often marked by periods of recalibration; shifts in scope and timeline that are evidence of an institution deep in the process of listening and adapting to its environment."

Museums and cultural institutions are experiencing structural collapse due to governance models designed for the 20th century. Directors face impossible demands to simultaneously serve as corporate executives, fundraisers, and visionary leaders while maintaining facilities and endowments. The traditional top-down leadership framework, which positions a singular figurehead directing culture from center to periphery, no longer functions effectively. Building new cultural infrastructure requires ethical reconsideration of authority structures and recognition that leadership may no longer reside at institutional centers. Artists function as architects of institutional identity rather than mere content providers. Emerging artist-led spaces and residencies, particularly across Africa, demonstrate alternative models that prioritize listening, adaptation, and collaborative approaches to cultural development.

Read at The Art Newspaper - International art news and events