Greater than 200 arts professionals, together with the artists Jasleen Kaur, Isaac Julien and John Akomfrah, have signed an open letter addressed to the Barbican Centre in London expressing their “profound disappointment and alarm” concerning the current departure of Devyani Saltzman, the establishment’s director for arts and participation. Graham Sheffield, the previous inventive director of the Barbican, has additionally signed the letter.
In a current assertion, Saltzman mentioned that the transfer is “because of an organisational restructure” and that her function is not going to get replaced. Saltzman, who was appointed in 2024, was reportedly made redundant and is because of go away in Could. In January a brand new chief govt, Abigail Pogson, began on the central London arts venue, which pulls round 1.5 million individuals yearly.
The letter says: “The Barbican has said that it’s going to not touch upon ‘particular person staffing issues’. Nonetheless, this isn’t an odd HR [human resources] challenge. It is a main public cultural establishment, funded and held in belief for the individuals of this metropolis and nation.” The Barbican initially instructed The Artwork Newspaper that it was “unable to touch upon particular person staffing issues”, earlier than later releasing an announcement through which it mentioned that Devyani was departing “following a part of inventive and organisational transition” and that her function wouldn’t get replaced because the venue prepares to shut forward of a significant renovation.
“A call affecting its most senior inventive function, and one of many only a few leaders of South Asian and racially various heritage in its historical past, has sector‑vast and group‑vast implications,” the letter says. “To characterise such a choice as an inner matter solely is insufficient and dismissive.”
The letter calls on the Barbican to implement sure measures together with offering “a full, public clarification of the rationale and course of that led to the curtailment of Devyani Saltzman’s function, together with the standing of the put up she held”. The signatories additionally need Barbican administration to “publish up‑to‑date knowledge on the variety of the Barbican’s senior management and governance and set out how this resolution impacts progress in the direction of your personal said equality and anti‑racism targets.”
In 2021, Nicholas Kenyon resigned as managing director after 14 years after employees instructed the Guardian that the Barbican was “institutionally racist”.
The Barbican’s “anti-racism motion plan” was finalised in 2024. “Preliminary priorities for the plan embody beginning [a] procurement course of to implement anti-racism coaching for employees; establishing a zero tolerance reporting system to report and observe incidents of racism, and [formalising] a World Majority sponsorship programme,” says a web-based assertion.
The letter to the Barbican, which was made public earlier this week, ends: “We urge you to answer this letter with honesty, transparency and a concrete plan of motion. With out this, our confidence within the Barbican as a associate, employer and civic house is profoundly shaken, and we should rethink how we and our communities interact with the establishment sooner or later.” Different signatories embody the novelist Salman Rushdie, the unbiased curator Ekow Eshun and Dorothy Value, the deputy director of the Courtauld Institute in London.
The Barbican referred The Artwork Newspaper to its press assertion when contacted for remark.
