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Visiting Arts announce new Board Chair
Robert Palmer has been officially appointed as Chair of the Board of Directors at Visiting Arts. He attended his first meeting of the Board on Friday May 1 and will chair his first meeting in July.
As the Director of Culture and Cultural and National Heritage at the Council of Europe, Robert Palmer brings to Visiting Arts extensive experience in the cultural sector. He has been heavily involved in European Capitals of Culture and is the only person to have been the Director of two - Glasgow (1990) and Brussels (2000). He has great experience as a Board member of various arts institutions and international festivals and regularly speaks at international cultural conferences and workshops.
Robert Palmer: “Visiting Arts’ future will rely on creativity and exchange, on searching out and supporting new generations of artists, on building alliances with different publics in the UK and across the world, on being bolder and embracing change. Now is as good a moment as any for Visiting Arts to try out some really big ideas, and I am privileged to be part of this new adventure.
“Visiting Arts needs to focus its energies and talents on ensuring that its work continues to have cultural relevance, and that the arts make an influential contribution to the global issues and challenges that surround us.”
Robert Palmer replaces Professor Sir Gordon Conway who has stepped down after four years of service. Professor Conway will now concentrate on his roles as chief scientific adviser to the Department for International Development and Professor of International Development at Imperial College. He chaired his final Board meeting on Friday before attending a farewell dinner hosted by fellow Board members and Visiting Arts staff.
Yvette-Vaughan Jones, Executive Director of VA, praised the outgoing chair for his contribution: “Gordon has been a very great support to me and to the staff and an extremely active advocate of Visiting Arts’ work both at home and abroad. I am very sad to see him leave but am thrilled that Bob has joined us. His expertise in the cultural sector will be invaluable.”
Cathie Boyd and Graham Long have also stepped down from the Board, whilst Guto Harri (former chief Political Correspondent at the BBC and now Boris Johnson’s director of communications) is a new addition.
Show latest news, more from May 2009.
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