The general director and chief curator of the Montreal Museum of Contemporary Art, John Zeppetelli, announced to his team on Tuesday that he would leave his position in 2024.
John Zeppetelli, who has headed the MAC for more than 10 years, made the announcement in the presence of his team, the museum announced on Facebook.
“For more than 10 years, John has put his all-consuming passion for art, his great love of artists and his remarkable audacity at the service of the institution. Thanks to him, the MAC has presented extraordinary exhibitions, including Teresa Margolles: Mundos and Leonard Cohen: A Breach in All Things. More recently, the MAC hosted Terror Contagion from the London research collective Forensic Architecture, in collaboration with the famous documentary filmmaker Laura Poitras. »
The MAC team continues its publication by also mentioning the current exhibitions of Pussy Riot and Jeremy Shaw.
In his departure note, John Zeppetelli said he was leaving office “to explore new possibilities.”
“I am confident that the Montreal Museum of Contemporary Art will continue to thrive and evolve under its new leadership, supported by an exceptional and dedicated board of directors. I would like to express my deepest gratitude to the dedicated and motivated staff, brilliant artists and dynamic community who transformed almost every moment spent at the museum into something extraordinary. Together, we have cultivated a space that not only stimulates and delights, but also challenges and confronts – a space grounded in the complexities of the world. »
John Zeppetelli will therefore not see the transformation work of the MAC carried out under his direction, despite plans in this direction, which have been taking shape since 2014. The latest to date were carried out by the architectural firms Saucier Perrotte and GLCRM Architectes en 2017, but the budget for their implementation has been constantly revised upwards, in particular because of overheating in the construction sector.
This year, both levels of government, federal and provincial, increased their participation, increasing the budget from $44 million in 2018 to $116.5 million. A call for tenders is currently underway. But despite this impressive sum, La Presse revealed last September that according to the construction program, the surface area of its showrooms would only increase by 28%.
The MAC board of directors, led by businessman Alexandre Taillefer during almost the entire mandate of John Zeppetelli, has been chaired by Claudie Imbleau-Chagnon since the summer of 2022. The appointment Ms. Imbleau-Chagnon, who has been associated with the law firm Blakes since last July, was supposed to facilitate or even accelerate the completion of the museum’s transformation work.
The MAC moved to commercial premises in Place Ville Marie in 2021, condemning most of its permanent collection to the current building. If work begins next spring, the museum could reopen at the end of 2026.
