Devyani Saltzman is reported to leave her role as director of arts and participation at London’s Barbican Centre.
The Stage reports that Saltzman has been made redundant. Meanwhile, The Guardian writes that ‘it is unclear when Saltzman will leave the organisation’ and that ‘there are no plans to replace her’. The Barbican has not confirmed the exit and a spokesperson said that the Centre was ‘unable to comment on individual staffing matters’.
The news comes months after Saltzman’s unveiling of a five-year creative vision for the venue and follows the City of London Corporation’s approval of a £191 million investment towards a five-year renovation plan, scheduled to begin in 2027. The venue will close for construction works for one year from June 2028.
The reports add to a turbulent few years for the London institution. In 2021, former managing director Nicholas Kenyon departed over accusations of institutional racism at the centre. In 2023, the Resolve Collective withdrew their exhibition, Them’s the Breaks, over what they considered an ‘anti-Palestine’ stance. In 2024 a litany of collectors and artists withdrew works from an exhibition, Unravel: The Power and Politics of Textile in Art, in protest over the institution’s cancellation of a lecture by Indian thinker Pankaj Mishra.
Saltzman commenced her role at the Barbican in February 2024. was previously Director of Public Programming at the Art Gallery of Ontario, before which she was also Director of Literary Arts at the Banff Centre and a founding Curator at Luminato, Toronto. She has written for publications including The Globe and Mail, The National Post, the Atlantic and Tehelka.
