Tom Engels appointed as the new Director of Kunstverein München

Kunstverein München is pleased to announce that Tom Engels will assume the position of Director on January 1, 2026. His appointment follows an extensive selection procedure conducted by the Board of Kunstverein München and marks the beginning of a new chapter for the institution. Engels will take over from Maurin Dietrich, who has led Kunstverein München since 2019 and will remain in office until the end of 2025.

“With Tom Engels, Kunstverein München welcomes a director whose approach combines thoughtful vision with a sensitive and committed collaboration with artists,” says Dr. Rüdiger Maaß, Chair of the Board of Kunstverein München. “He works with artists as long-term interlocutors—supporting them in developing ideas over time and creating conditions in which challenging, ambitious work can emerge. We are excited to see how this ethos will shape the Kunstverein’s next chapter, building on its legacy as a vital space for artistic and critical experimentation.”

“I think of Kunstverein München as one of those singular spaces that allow art to shift the cadence of how we think and feel—slowing things down when everything else calls for speed, or quickening something inside us that resists being named,” comments Engels on his appointment. “Today, such spaces are not a given; they ask for our collective attention and commitment—to be sustained, to be defended—so they can continually be made and remade. For me, this means inhabiting Kunstverein München as a site to rehearse and renegotiate how we speak, sense, and imagine—not to chase novelty, but to turn to what is at hand and work it differently, until what feels locked into pattern might begin to open up. There is a particular curiosity and quiet pleasure in unsettling what seems obvious, complicating what appears certain, and drawing closer to what escapes attention or remains unresolved. I look forward to working with the complex and resonant legacy of this institution, and carrying it into a future that remains open to possibility.”

In shaping his vision for Kunstverein München, Engels has appointed Line Ebert as incoming Curator. Together with Lucie Pia, who has been part of the team under the current directorship and will continue as Assistant Curator, they will form the institution’s curatorial team. In addition, Julie Peeters, a longtime collaborator of Engels, will be responsible for the graphic design of Kunstverein München.

Tom Engels (b. 1989, Belgium) works across visual art, choreography, and performance. Since 2021, he has been Artistic Director of Grazer Kunstverein, where he is currently bringing his tenure to a close with solo exhibitions by Tom Burr and Nora Schultz. In 2023, he was appointed Curator of the 15th Baltic Triennial at the Contemporary Art Centre in Vilnius, which he developed in collaboration with Maya Tounta. His projects and collaborations have been presented internationally at Museion (Bolzano), Tai Kwun Contemporary (Hong Kong), M HKA (Antwerp), and Jan Mot (Brussels), among others. At Grazer Kunstverein, publishing has been central to his exhibition-making, resulting in around fifteen volumes produced with Julie Peeters, alongside editorial projects with Sternberg Press, Axis Axis, Roma Publications, and Sarma. Engels has also collaborated with choreographers including Alexandra Bachzetsis, Mette Ingvartsen, Eszter Salamon, Mette Edvardsen, Bryana Fritz, and PRICE/Mathias Ringgenberg. He holds master’s degrees in Art History from Ghent University and in Choreography and Performance from the Institute for Applied Theatre Studies, University of Gießen.

Photo: Marina Sula