Draft:Stephanie Rosenthal

Stephanie Rosenthal
Born	1971 (age 54–55) Munich, West Germany
Alma mater	Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich University of Cologne
Occupations	Art historian curator museum director
Known for	Director of the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi Project; Artistic Director of the 20th Biennale of Sydney

Stephanie Rosenthal (born 1971, Munich) is a German art historian, curator and museum director. She has held senior curatorial and directorial positions at institutions including the Haus der Kunst in Munich, the Hayward Gallery in London and the Gropius Bau in Berlin. She was artistic director of the 20th Biennale of Sydney in 2016 and, since September 2022, has served as director of the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi Project.

Her curatorial practice has included contemporary art, performance, dance and participatory forms of exhibition-making. Her work has involved artists from a range of geographical and cultural contexts and has frequently explored the relationship between visual art, performance and the experience of audiences.

Early life and education

Rosenthal was born in Munich in 1971. She studied art history at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich and subsequently received a doctorate in art history from the University of Cologne. Her doctoral research examined black paintings associated with the New York School, focusing on artists including Robert Rauschenberg, Ad Reinhardt, Frank Stella and Mark Rothko.

Her academic research has informed a broader curatorial interest in modern and contemporary art, while her later career increasingly focused on exhibition formats involving performance, movement and audience participation.

Career

Haus der Kunst

Rosenthal began her professional curatorial career at Haus der Kunst in Munich. She worked at the institution for more than a decade and was appointed curator of modern and contemporary art in 2000. During this period she curated exhibitions involving artists including Allan Kaprow, Aernout Mik and Paul McCarthy.

Among her exhibitions at Haus der Kunst were Stories: Narrative Structures in Contemporary Art (2002), Aernout Mik: Dispersions (2004), Paul McCarthy: LaLa Land Parody Paradise (2005) and Alan Kaprow: Art as Life (2006). The Paul McCarthy exhibition subsequently travelled to the Whitechapel Gallery in London.

She also curated Black Paintings (2006), an exhibition addressing the use of black in the work of artists including Barnett Newman, Robert Rauschenberg, Frank Stella, Ad Reinhardt and Rothko. The exhibition related to the subject of her doctoral research.

Hayward Gallery

In December 2007, Rosenthal became Chief Curator of the Hayward Gallery at London's Southbank Centre, a position she held until 2017.

Her exhibitions at the Hayward included Walking in My Mind (2009), MOVE: Choreographing You (2010), Art of Change: New Directions from China (2012), Pipilotti Rist: Eyeball Massage (2011), Ana Mendieta: Traces (2013) and MIRRORCITY (2014).

MOVE: Choreographing You examined the relationship between contemporary visual art and dance. The exhibition incorporated works and performances that encouraged visitors to experience artworks through movement and bodily interaction.

Biennale of Sydney

In 2016, Rosenthal served as Artistic Director of the 20th Biennale of Sydney. The exhibition was titled The future is already here — it's just not evenly distributed, taking its title from a quotation by science-fiction writer William Gibson.

The Biennale was presented across numerous venues and other locations throughout Sydney. Its programme included 83 artists from 37 countries and incorporated both conventional exhibition venues and projects in public and transitional spaces.

Rosenthal emphasised the use of sites beyond established cultural institutions, including so-called "in-between spaces". The 2016 Biennale consequently incorporated locations such as Camperdown Cemetery, Mortuary Station and public spaces in addition to major museums and galleries.

Her curatorial approach for the Biennale continued her interest in relationships between visual art, performance, architecture, public space and audience experience.

Gropius Bau

In 2018, Rosenthal became director of the Gropius Bau in Berlin, succeeding Gereon Sievernich. She remained in the position until 2022.

During her directorship, the institution expanded its programme of contemporary art and established an In House: Artist in Residence programme. Exhibitions presented during her tenure included Lee Bul: Crash (2018), Garden of Earthly Delights (2019), Wu Tsang: There is no nonviolent way to look at somebody (2019), Lee Mingwei: Li, Gifts and Rituals (2020), Otobong Nkanga: There's No Such Thing as Solid Ground (2020), Yayoi Kusama: A Retrospective – A Bouquet of Love I Saw in the Universe (2021), Hella Jongerius: Woven Cosmos (2021), Zheng Bo: Wanwu Council (2021), Dayanita Singh: Dancing with my Camera (2022) and YOYI! Care, Repair, Heal (2022).

The programme brought together established and emerging contemporary artists and included projects concerned with ecology, care, participation and institutional forms. Rosenthal's tenure also continued her interest in incorporating performance and other live practices into exhibition institutions.

Guggenheim Abu Dhabi

In May 2022, it was announced that Rosenthal would become director of the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi Project, succeeding her role at the Gropius Bau. She took up the position in September 2022.

As director, Rosenthal is responsible for the artistic direction and development of the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi project, including its programme and institutional development. The museum is being developed on Saadiyat Island in Abu Dhabi and is designed by architect Frank Gehry.

The Guggenheim Abu Dhabi is planned as a museum of modern and contemporary art with a particular geographical focus extending across West Asia, North Africa and South Asia and the wider region. Its planned galleries and exhibition spaces are intended to present art from the 1960s to the present.

The museum will open on December 11th, 2026.

Rosenthal has described her approach to the project in terms of developing an institution rooted in its regional context rather than simply transferring a European or North American museum model to Abu Dhabi. She has also identified participation, multiple perspectives and the relationship between museums and their audiences as central aspects of her practice.

Boijmans Van Beuningen

As of September 30th 2026, Stephanie Rosenthal is appointed as the new director of the Boijmans Van Breuningen museum in Rotterdam, set to start her new position in spring 2027.

Curatorial practice

A recurring element of Rosenthal's work has been the relationship between visual art and performance. At the Hayward Gallery, this was particularly evident in MOVE: Choreographing You, while her later work has incorporated dance, participatory practices and other forms of live artistic activity.

Her curatorial interests have also extended to transcultural exhibition-making and to forms of audience participation. In her account of her professional practice, Rosenthal has described the visitor experience as an important component of exhibition design and has expressed an interest in multisensory and participatory forms of engagement.

At the Gropius Bau, these interests were reflected in programmes involving performance, artist residencies and exhibitions dealing with care, ecology and social relationships.

Professional activities

Rosenthal has participated in international museum and curatorial organisations. In 2019 she chaired the jury for the 58th Venice Biennale.

She was also elected to the board of the International Committee for Museums and Collections of Modern Art (CIMAM) for the 2026–28 term.

Her stated areas of professional interest for CIMAM include regional representation, exchange between larger and smaller museums, digital technologies and artificial intelligence, research in museums, and the preservation and integration of performance practices into museum collections and institutional strategies.

Selected exhibitions

As curator or artistic director

• Stories: Narrative Structures in Contemporary Art (2002), Haus der Kunst
• Aernout Mik: Dispersions (2004), Haus der Kunst
• Paul McCarthy: LaLa Land Parody Paradise (2005), Haus der Kunst; subsequently Whitechapel Gallery
• Black Paintings (2006), Haus der Kunst
• Alan Kaprow: Art as Life (2006), Haus der Kunst
• Walking in My Mind (2009), Hayward Gallery
• MOVE: Choreographing You (2010), Hayward Gallery
• Art of Change: New Directions from China (2012), Hayward Gallery
• Ana Mendieta: Traces (2013), Hayward Gallery
• MIRRORCITY (2014), Hayward Gallery
• 20th Biennale of Sydney (2016), artistic director
• Lee Bul: Crash (2018), Gropius Bau
• Garden of Earthly Delights (2019), Gropius Bau
• Wu Tsang: There is no nonviolent way to look at somebody (2019), Gropius Bau
• Lee Mingwei: Li, Gifts and Rituals (2020), Gropius Bau
• Otobong Nkanga: There's No Such Thing as Solid Ground (2020), Gropius Bau
• Yayoi Kusama: A Retrospective – A Bouquet of Love I Saw in the Universe (2021), Gropius Bau
• Hella Jongerius: Woven Cosmos (2021), Gropius Bau
• Zheng Bo: Wanwu Council (2021), Gropius Bau
• Dayanita Singh: Dancing with my Camera (2022), Gropius Bau
• YOYI! Care, Repair, Heal (2022), Gropius Bau.