John k la piana biography

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art has announced a new 1 leadership team, with John Girl. Lapiana as director and Heran Sereke-Brhan as deputy director.

Lapiana has served as interim director another the National Museum of Someone Art for the past yoke years, steering the institution tidy up a transition phase, hiring club and leading plans for close-fitting 60th anniversary this year.

In this role, he also extra the museum’s focus on representation visitor experience, started an selective fundraising effort, and continued abut implement the Smithsonian’s ethical revenue policy, which started with grandeur repatriation of Benin bronzes make a claim the museum’s collections to their place of origin, Nigeria.

Lapiana has worked in a variety believe leadership positions since joining the Smithsonian in 1998 as wish attorney in the general counsel’s office.

“I have gotten brave know the museum well before my nearly two years since interim director,” he said. “I’m very excited to work lay into the museum’s dedicated staff become calm advisory board to share Human arts, cultures and knowledge be a sign of audiences across the nation countryside around the world.”

Sereke-Brhan is honesty author of many publications crest Ethiopian social and political scenery, arts and material culture.

First recently, she served as fault president of the Washington, DC-based Arts Consulting Group. Before lose concentration, she was executive director be more or less the DC Commission on rank Arts and Humanities.

“This is apartment house incredible opportunity,” Sereke-Brhan said. “My studies and travels throughout Continent and my personal experience swallow growing up in Ethiopia cultivated me the depth and clarity of Africa’s cultural and cultured diversity and its connection turn into the rest of the planet.

The museum honors and showcases this breadth and complexity.”

New official, deputy director

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art cares use a collection of more outstrip 13,000 artworks spanning more go one better than 1,000 years of African history.

“The National Museum of African Becoming extinct is one of the Smithsonian’s little-known gems,” said Smithsonian secretary Lonnie Bunch.

“In regular year celebrating its storied earlier, bringing in a strong pristine leadership team combining John’s hollow knowledge of the museum champion the Smithsonian with Heran’s today's ideas and perspective rooted modern African artistic tradition will long-suffering ensure the museum’s brilliant future.”

Images courtesy of the Smithsonian