Richard Birkett will step down from his role as director of Glasgow International.
After joining in December 2022, Birkett oversaw only the 2024 edition of the biennial Scottish contemporary art festival, curated by Por Marr and assistant curator Pelumi Odubanjo. The biennial operates an open submission model for artists and curators.
Birkett was previously chief curator at London’s Institute of Contemporary Arts from 2017 to 2020, and curator at Artists Space in New York for six years prior to that. His exhibitions in London include shows for Forensic Architecture and Cameron Rowland, as well as a retrospective of Julie Becker, the American artist who died in 2016. In America he worked with Julie Ault, Bernadette Corporation, Lukas Duwenhögger, Aaron Flint Jamison, Laura Poitras and Hito Steyerl on solo shows.
In 2021 Richard Parry stepped down from the festival having curated the eighth and ninth editions in 2018 and 2021.
Glasgow International are yet to announce Birkett’s replacement. The 2026 edition is scheduled for June 2026, with an open call for artists launching in March 2025.
