Chris Dercon, born in Lier, Belgium, is an Art Historian, Documentary Film Director, and Culture Producer. He has been leading art institutions since 1990, including the MoMA PS1 in New York, Witte de With – Center for Contemporary Art and the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam, Haus der Kunst in Munich, and the Tate Modern in London. During the 2017/2018 season Dercon was the designated Artistic Director at Berlin’s Volksbühne Theater.
As Director of the Tate Modern from 2011 to 2016, Chris Dercon directed the museum’s focus heavily on Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. In 2013, he established new exhibition spaces for Art in Action using the tanks transformed by Herzog & de Meuron. In addition to his exhibitions – which include Edvard Munch, Saloua R. Choucair, Ibrahim El Salahi, Meshac Gaba, Richard Tuttle, Marlene Dumas, Buphen Khakhar and Wolfgang Tillmans – Dercon has collaborated with artists such as Boris Charmatz, Tim Etchells, Andrea Fraser, and Anna Teresa De Keersmaeker.
Chris Dercon gives numerous presentations and interviews while also publishing domestically and internationally on the developments of visual and performing arts, collection policies, the future of museums and cultural institutions, and the changing role of artists.