The National Museum’s new director is Karin Hindsbo

Karin Hindsbo (42) will succeed Audun Eckhoff as museum director of the National Museum for a term of six years. Hindsbo comes directly from the position as director of KODE Art Museums of Bergen. She takes over Eckhoff’s position on the 1^st of June, 2017.

– The National Museum is one of the most important cultural institutions in the Nordic countries. We are about to enter the museum’s most exciting period ever with the pending relocation to a new building at Vestbanen in 2020. The move represents a historically unique investment in art and I am really looking forward to playing my part in shaping the national museum of the future, says Karin Hindsbo.

Pleased chairman
Karin Hindsbo comes from the position of director of KODE, where she has done a successful job of modernising the museum and increasing its relevance and attractiveness for a number of new audience groups.

- Karin Hindsbo is one of Scandinavia’s most competent museum leaders and is just the woman we need to pilot the National Museum in a decisive period. The Board has placed emphasis on her significant leadership experience from reorganising processes, her art-cultural background, her communicative skills and her talent for highlighting art in a wider social context, says chairman of the Board, Linda Bernander Silseth.

- I am very grateful for the trust the Board has given me, and also quite humble, saysHindsbo, I look forward to cooperating closely with the competent Board and not least with the National Museum’s incredibly capable staff.

Creating enthusiasm for art
– The National Museum’s primary task is to preserve Norway’s cultural heritage. At the same time we have a responsibility to create enthusiasm for our amazing collection and also provide a clear demonstration of the pivotal role art plays in society, says the incumbent director.

– We live in a digital age, a world filled with visual communication we do not necessarily comprehend. Images spread like wildfire between continents and cultures. Do we see these images in the same way? Do we understand their potential effects? Art is a means of understanding. This will be of immense importance for the National Museum in the future: utilising art as a means of comprehending the world we live in.

Ten years experience as top executive
Karin Hindsbo holds a Master in Fine Arts from the University of Aarhus. She has five years of management experience from the Norwegian cultural scene, having served for three years as director of KODE in Bergen and two years as director of Sørlandets Kunstmuseum in Kristiansand. All in all she has ten years of top management experience, including a term as artistic director for Kunsthal Aarhus and directorship of Copenhagen’s Den Frie Udstilling.

Hindsbo is known as a profiled and enthusiastic cultural leader who is not afraid to put pen to paper. In recent years a number of her articles published in Aftenposten, Morgenbladet, NRK Ytring and Bergens Tidende have placed art and culture squarely in the middle of the public debate.

The hiring process
The Board has been through a rigorous hiring process which finally led to the person they believe that the National Museum will be best served with as its new director. The vacancy was widely advertised in Norway and internationally from the 11^th of November, 2016. The Board has been closely involved in the entire process, with assistance from the recruiting company ISCO Group. A thorough effort was made to compile an overview of all interested and qualified candidates. Due to the appointment of a new Board from the 1^st of January 2017, the original application deadline was extended to the 31^st of January, 2017, and a hiring committee was established. This committee consisted of Chairman Linda Bernander Silseth, Deputy Chairman Jan Erik Knarbakk and Staff Representative Randi Godø.

– Appointing a director for the upcoming term is this Board’s most important task. The Board has unanimously agreed that Karin Hindsbo is the best candidate to lead the National Museum in the new era that the relocation of Norway’s most extensive art collection at Vestbanen represents. I wish to take this opportunity to thank Audun Eckhoff for doing an excellent and highly important job in guiding the National Museum through a decisive and successful phase. Among the things I would like to emphasize, are the establishment of a whole new organisation, his administration of a series of successful exhibition projects and his contribution in attracting record numbers of visitors through several years, says Silseth.

Contact:
Karin Hindsbo was presented as the new director of the National Museum in a general meeting at 09.30 today. At 11.00 she and Board Chairman Linda Benander Silseth will be available for comments and questions at the press conference which will be held at the National Museum’s Mellomstasjon at Vestbanen.

Eva Engeset, press contact, eva.engeset@nasjonalmuseet.no / tel.: 46 95 01 02.