Quiet for a moment. Now back. ✨
And glad to be in Venice amongst friends and colleagues as one chapter closes and another begins.
When I joined the Barbican in 2024, I was handed a mandate and the opportunity to work with a brilliant team. What followed was one of the most creatively alive periods of my professional life.
Together we reset the Artistic Vision (2025–30), built new cross-arts structures that let exceptional people work as one institution, grew our interdisciplinary and public realm commissioning, and centred seasons around the ideas and creative practices artists are leading with and interrogating internationally. We brought fashion, literature, and public discourse back to the heart of the Barbican’s identity. We expanded the immersive programme. We built something that points toward the future.
This work, the work of collaboration and sense making in a world in an incredibly challenging place, was collective. It was ours. It belongs to the curators, programmers, producers, and Heads of Artforms and the overall Barbican team whose generosity and courage made everything possible. My deepest thanks to every one of them. The Artistic Vision is set. It belongs to the artists, the audiences, and the public.
My time as Director for Arts concludes at the end of May. I am deeply saddened that the role was made redundant as part of an organisational transition.
I’ve spent the last few weeks absorbing the incredible outpouring of support by colleagues across the global arts sector. Seeing voices I respect so deeply advocating for the future of bold creative and inclusive leadership has been more moving than I can say.
I am so incredibly proud of what we built together. Thank you to everyone who was part of it. The work continues.
See you in the Giardini and in the next space. ✨
#VeniceBiennale #BiennaleArte2026
#InMinorKeys #ArtsLeadership #NextChapter
@labiennale@barbicancentre
Sharing a small selection from preview week ✨ #inminorkeys @labiennale #labiennaledivenezia with a shout out to the amazing @abbasakhavan@rajniperera and @marigoldasantos@alexakumikohatanaka ✨💕 Kaloki Nyamai | Senzeni Marasela | Sumakshi Singh | Rajni Perera and Marigold Santos | Florentina Holzinger | | Dan Lie | Yo-E Ryou | Lubeina Hamid | Abbas Akhavan
As part of our In The Frame series, celebrating women shaping the arts, we meet @devyanisaltzman - the @barbicancentre 's Director for Arts and Participation and one of the most thoughtful voices in contemporary culture today.
From her approach to storytelling and identity to the role of art in reflecting the world we live in, Devyani shares how her experiences have shaped her work, the importance of representation, and why nuance matters more than ever in creative spaces. Tap the link in bio to read the full story. #MCInTheFrame
Thank you @elleuk for including me alongside these incredible trailblazing women as a 2026 culture shifter. Honoured to be in such company @barbicancentre ✨#arts #culture
Thank you all for the birthday wishes. 46 and feeling good. Always learning, growing and looking forward to living this next year with kindness, grace and serenity.
