SITE Santa Fe has appointed the acclaimed London-based curator Ekow Eshun to lead its 13th International exhibition, set to open in the summer of 2027, per artnews.com.
Eshun, the former director of London’s Institute of Contemporary Art, has earned international praise for his recent high-profile projects. His landmark 2022 exhibition, In the Black Fantastic at the Hayward Gallery, and the subsequent The Time Is Always Now at the National Portrait Gallery, solidified his reputation for reframing Black identity and history through contemporary art.
SITE executive director Louis Grachos described Eshun’s vision as “fresh, dynamic and experiential,” noting that the museum has been eyeing the curator since he participated in a 2023 programme in Santa Fe. “The hope is that he’s going to be presenting a show that will be really fresh for North America,” Grachos said.
Eshun’s approach involves using art to explore “nuanced questions” of place, memory, and belonging. He expressed a particular fascination with the American Southwest, calling it a “confluence of different histories” and “artistic movements.”
While the artist list and theme remain under development, the 2027 edition is expected to follow the successful model of the 2025 biennial by collaborating with various partner institutions across the city. Eshun noted that he admires how the event “turns a city into an ongoing site of discovery.”
Alongside his new role in New Mexico, Eshun is currently preparing the 10th British Art Show, which launches this September.
•Featured image: Ekow Eshun/Zeinab Batchelor
