Confirmation of the appointment of Sarah Lombardi as Director of the Collection de l’Art Brut

The City Council has appointed Sarah Lombardi, the current director ad interim of the Collection de l'Art Brut, as director of the institution from March 1, 2013. Ms. Lombardi's wide experience in the realm of art brut, her in-depth knowledge of the museum and the many new projects that she plans to launch promise to enable this worldwide unique institution to face the various stakes of tomorrow.

Our October 2012 invitation to tender for the position of director of the Collection de l'Art Brut attracted 30 applications. After carefully reviewing the application files, we requested a selection of candidates to submit a development project for the museum, including such facets as conservation, programming and showcasing, as well as the public welcome service and the site's further development. Thereupon, and with the approval of the Collection de l'Art Brut's Advisory Council, the City Council decided to accept the candidacy of Sarah Lombardi.

Born in 1972, Sarah Lombardi took a degree in the history of art at the University of Lausanne, which she went on to complete with research and curatorial studies in the realm of art brut, in Quebec. She is totally familiar with the Collection de l'Art Brut, having worked there since 2004 as a research assistant, curator and, finally, director ad interim since January 1, 2012. During all her years with the institution, she has coordinated various exhibitions, both here in Lausanne and abroad—including, notably, "Dubuffet and Art Brut" in 2005 in Lausanne and Düsseldorf, and "Japan" in 2008 in Vienna. Ms. Lombardi has directed and participated in numerous publications on the subject of art brut, and has been acting as full director of the museum for one year now.

Ms. Lombardi is highly acclaimed for her skills in the field, for her rallying and energetic personality and for her enthusiasm on behalf of art brut. As such, she has in mind to highlight the museum's riches (some 60,000 works) to their best advantage through large-size two-yearly thematic presentations. Such exhibitions will feature exclusively productions stemming from the museum's collections, thus reintroducing certain historic creators to the wide public. The underlying idea is to reassert the unique status of the Lausanne Collection de l'Art Brut's "parent collection" at a time when art brut is gaining ever greater international recognition.

 

Publish Date: 15.02.2013