The FINANCIAL — The British Council has announced that Skinder Hundal MBE will become its Director of Arts from 9 December 2020. He succeeds Kate Arthurs, who moved from the role in July this year.
Hundal is currently CEO/Director of New Art Exchange, a contemporary arts space in Nottingham where over the past 12 years he has cemented a reputation for connecting diverse arts and cultural projects between the UK and overseas. Working across art forms, his international experience includes projects for La Biennale di Venezia, TED Global, Google Cultural Institute and for the UK’s official arts programme for the First World War Centenary, 14-18 Now.
Major projects under his tenure at New Art Exchange includes Here, There & Everywhere, an ambitious international programme of artistic development, cultural exchange and artist residencies between the UK and Africa, South Asia, South Korea, Middle East, North America and Europe.
Skinder Hundal is Executive Producer and co-Artistic Director of the UK’s original South Asian outdoor festival, Nottingham Arts Mela, and a Board member at Artist News (a-n) and Tom Dale Dance Company. In 2019, he was awarded an MBE for his contribution to visual arts.
As Director of Arts, British Council, Hundal will oversee multiple art forms, including: Architecture, Design and Fashion; Film; Literature; Music; Theatre and Dance; and Visual Arts. The British Council’s major arts activity includes cultural programmes for annual bilateral seasons such as UK/Italy 2020 and UK/Australia 2021-22; the British Pavilion exhibitions at La Biennale Arte and La Biennale Architettura, Venice; and the Market Focus Cultural Programme at the London Book Fair.
Skinder Hundal says:
“I am hugely excited to have been given this wonderful opportunity to join the British Council as its new Director of Arts. Connecting, engaging and sharing knowledge through arts and culture is now more important than ever. I believe artists and cultural professionals help challenge, provoke and make sense of the world, so I’m looking forward to continuing to connect the unique and diverse UK’s arts scene with many brilliant artists and organisations around the world in my new role at British Council.”
Mark Stephens CMG, Director Cultural Engagement, British Council comments:
“We are delighted to announce that Skinder Hundal will join us as the British Council’s new Director of Arts. His long history of international collaborations, coupled with an outstanding commitment to inclusion and diversity, make Skinder an exceptional candidate to lead our global Arts work, supporting and sustaining vital cultural connections between UK artists and organisations and their counterparts overseas.”
