31 MAY 2017Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA) Director Chris Saines today announced the appointment of renowned curator Zara Stanhope as the Gallery’s Curatorial Manager of Asian and Pacific Art.

‘We are delighted to welcome Zara, who has over 20 years’ experience in curatorial and collection management in lead roles in art institutions in Australia and New Zealand,’ Mr Saines said.

‘Along with an expansive curatorial practice focusing on Australian, New Zealand and Pacific art, she will bring to the Gallery a great depth of strategic thinking, management experience and strong local and international networks.

‘As head of the Gallery’s dynamic Asian and Pacific art team, Zara will have responsibility for QAGOMA’s flagship exhibition series, The Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, and its world leading collection of contemporary Asian and Pacific art,’ he said.

Most recently Principal Curator and Head of Programmes, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki since 2013, Zara’s other experience includes Deputy Director of Heide Museum of Modern Art, Melbourne, inaugural Director of the Adam Art Gallery at Victoria University of Wellington and Assistant Director of Monash University Museum of Art.

Her curatorial practice spans more than 70 curated and co-curated exhibitions on Australian, New Zealand and international art and she is widely published. Exhibitions of note include ‘Ann Shelton: Dark Matter’, ‘Yang Fudong: Filmscapes (co-curated with Ulanda Blair), ‘The World in Painting’ (touring Thailand, Philippines, Vietnam and Australia), ‘Three Colours, Gordon Bennett and Peter Robinson’, ‘Slow Release: Recent Photography in New Zealand’ and 2016’s ‘Space to Dream: Recent Art from South America’ (with Beatriz Bustos Oyanedel).

Zara holds a PhD from Australian National University and an MA from University of London and is Adjunct Professor at both RMIT University Melbourne and AUT University Auckland.

Zara will commence at QAGOMA in August.