The Whitworth: New director aims to boost Manchester gallery's global impact

Ms Lee, who grew up in South Korea's capital, Seoul, said she was looking forward to working with the gallery's "dedicated staff"

The new director of the Whitworth has said she wants to develop the gallery's "artistic rigour and social impacts" and widen its global appeal.

Sook-Kyung Lee, who is a senior curator at London's Tate Modern, will join the Manchester institution in August.

She was also artistic director of the 14th Gwangju Biennale, which opened in in her South Korea homeland in April.

She said it would be a "huge honour" to lead one of the UK's "most innovative and audience-focused art institutions".

The gallery, which forms part of the University of Manchester, was founded in 1889 as The Whitworth Institute and Park in memory of the industrialist Sir Joseph Whitworth for "the perpetual gratification of the people of Manchester".

A university representative said it continued that mission "today in new contexts".

It underwent a £17m redevelopment in 2015, which doubled the public space and created expanded gallery spaces, a study centre, learning studio and collections care centre, while also reconnecting it with its park, with communal gardens and outdoor programmes.

The Whitworth underwent a £17m redevelopment in 2015, which expanded its exhibition spaces

Ms Lee said it was a "huge honour" to take up the role at what she described as "one of the most innovative and audience-focused art institutions in the UK and internationally".

"I have admired the Whitworth's commitment to work with local communities and to use art for positive social change," she said.

She added that alongside the institution's dedicated staff and the university, she wanted to "further develop the gallery in its artistic rigour and social impacts and to widen its global connections".

Nalin Thakkar, the university's vice-president for social responsibility, said the move, which will also see Ms Lee become honorary professor of transcultural curating at the university, was a "fantastic opportunity to build on the Whitworth's international renown as a leading cultural institution".

He said it was also a chance to work closely with the city of Manchester, the university and other community partners and stakeholders to strengthen the gallery's current focus and explore "new exciting directions for the future".

Alistair Hudson took over as the gallery's director in 2018 after the departure of Maria Balshaw

Ms Lee takes over from Alistair Hudson, who has led the gallery since he followed Maria Balshaw into the role in 2018.

In February 2022, the Guardian reported that Mr Hudson had been "asked to leave" by the university after "a series of complaints" about a 2021 exhibition.

That sparked protests from some, who accused the institution of succumbing to pressure and stifling artistic expression, and saw a major exhibition featuring the cream of current British artists open in the following May despite a boycott by more than half of those who created the works.

The university denied asking Mr Hudson, who declined to comment at the time, to leave and said it had not "bowed to external pressures as has been suggested".

It added it had actually gone to "great lengths to ensure that the exhibition in question proceeded uncensored and remained opened for the full period that had been planned".