Dominique Savelkoul, the director of the Ostend contemporary art museum Mu.ZEE is trading in the Flemish seaside resort for New York and Maastricht. On Monday she started working as general director of the Tefaf art fairs in Maastricht (The Netherlands) and New York (USA). ‘I would have liked to have stayed in Ostend, but an international operation like Tefaf turned out to be very attractive,’ she told daily De Standaard.
Mu.ZEE director Dominique Savelkoul joins Tefaf art fairs, swaps Ostend for New York
Colin Clapson
Published:
Dominique Savelkoul (61) has been the director of Mu.ZEE for 4 and a half years. She started in Ostend at the beginning of the corona pandemic and initially had to run the art museum remotely. Last year's successful exhibition around impressionist artist Anna Boch attracted more than 93,000 visitors and this year's Ensor Year exhibitions have also attracted large crowds.
Savelkoul‘s new international position at Tefaf is by no means her first top job on the arts scene abroad. She has previously worked for the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the National Gallery in London and the Ruhrtriënnale arts festival in Germany. Tefaf remains one of the most important art and antiques fairs in the world.
‘I was starting to miss an international operation’
Savelkoul tells De Standaard that her departure has nothing to do with discussions about Mu.ZEE's possible move to the Thermae Palace site. ‘That application has been running for a while now. Moreover, the museum didn't actually have much to do with the relocation plan. It was a political dossier that went over our heads.’
Still, her stay in Ostend was the first time in her career that she did plan to remain somewhere longer than a couple of years. ‘There is still a lot to do at Mu.ZEE. In early 2025, the museum will close for 3 years for renovations, the beginning of a new story. Maybe that's more up to other people now.’
Savelkoul was asked to join Tefaf. She is known to be a manager, who is good at guiding change processes. ‘At first, I thought: I'll stay where I am. I’m not obliged to move, but after the first interview, their offer turned out to be very attractive. I was starting to miss an international operation.’
Savelkoul describes the art fair Tefaf as ‘the grand old lady’ of art fairs. ‘It is world-class and the reference. Exhibitors don't get in just like that. There is permanent concern about quality.’
‘In Amsterdam we have a team of about 30 people. In New York there are about five of us. New York is part of Tefaf-Maastricht. There, we don't exhibit antiques, but focus on modern art. I will be active at both locations.’