MIGUEL AMADO APPOINTED DIRECTOR OF SIRIUS ARTS CENTRE

Glen Barry, the Chair of the Board of Sirius Arts Centre, Cobh, Co. Cork, is delighted to announce the appointment of Miguel Amado as the new Director of Sirius Arts Centre taking over from the successful tenure of outgoing Director Miranda Driscoll. Amado is a curator and critic, and currently director of Cork Printmakers. He is an accomplished professional who brings to Sirius Arts Centre a wealth of knowledge, experience, skills and networks. He takes up his new post on 27 January 2020.

Amado is an advocate of the social function of art and art institutions. He has been instrumental in promoting the notion of the ‘useful museum’, which he developed during his work as senior curator at Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art and more recently at Cork Printmakers. The ‘useful museum’ applies the thinking of the artist and social reformer John Ruskin and the idea of art as a tool for change put forward by the artist Tania Bruguera to current undertakings that centre creativity at the heart of ordinary life. It focuses on usership, serving and being shaped by its constituents through methodologies of art co-production and co-curation. It operates in a manner that responds to the urgencies and needs of the social fabric.

Miguel Amado’s career includes posts, fellowships and residencies at Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art, England; Tate St Ives, England; Abrons Arts Center, New York; Rhizome at the New Museum, New York; International Studio and Curatorial Program, New York; Centro de Artes Visuais, Coimbra, Portugal; and Encontros de Fotografia, Coimbra, Portugal. His career also includes exhibitions and projects curated as a freelancer for numerous organisations and events, notably the Portuguese Pavilion at the 2013 Venice Biennale; Art Projects at the London Art Fair; Foro Arte Cáceres, Spain; apexart, New York; Museu Coleção Berardo, Lisbon; and Frieze Projects at Frieze London.

Amado is a regular contributor to Artforum, and his writings have appeared in other publications and online platforms. He is a former editor of W, a magazine in Porto, Portugal. He is a graduate of the MA in Curating Contemporary Art at the Royal College of Art, London; further training includes Night School, New Museum, New York, and Decolonial Summer School, University College Roosevelt/Utrecht University, Middelburg, the Netherlands.

Glen Barry said: “We are very excited about the appointment of Miguel Amado to Sirius Arts Centre. Miguel has demonstrated a very forward-thinking social approach to arts programming and we look forward to working with him as he further develops his commitment to put public engagement at the core of activities and continues to build Sirius Arts Centre as a exciting space for the arts.”
Amado said: “It is an honour and a privilege to join Sirius Arts Centre at this juncture in its existence. I am excited to bring to Sirius Arts Centre my commitment to curating as a civic practice – turning the gallery into a social space for artists and communities – which perfectly matches the organisation’s mission. My drive towards politics and the generation of ‘progressive’ content lends itself well to furthering Sirius Arts Centre as a site for experimental connection between art forms and societal themes. I look forward to working with the board, staff, stakeholders and audiences to collectively build the future of Sirius Arts Centre.”

Sirius Arts Centre is an arts centre in the Cobh-Glanmire municipal district of East Cork. It serves as an intermediary between art and the public and offers developing opportunities for both emerging and established artists from Ireland and internationally. The programme focuses on visual art, music and performance as well as learning and participatory activities via a mix of exhibitions, events and residencies, all of which bring together people from and to east Cork.

For further information, please contact info@siriusartscentre.ie or +353 (0)214813790.