The Tamesis
The Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA), New Delhi, one of India’s leading private art institutions, has announced the appointment of Manuel Rabaté as its first CEO and Director. The Frenchman joins Louvre Abu Dhabi from having served as the museum’s first director since its opening in 2016.
Rabat’s arrival comes as KNMA prepares for a major expansion, which will see it move from its current location within a shopping mall to a purpose-built museum complex near Indira Gandhi International Airport. The massive new campus, designed by David Adjaye Associates, is expected to open within the next three years, a museum spokesman said.
Kiran Nadar, who founded KNMA in 2010 and serves as its chairman, described the upcoming complex as the largest museum and cultural center in South Asia. The site will include multiple exhibition galleries, performance and theater spaces, a library, archives and an education centre.
The role in New Delhi will be Rabat’s first with a private museum. Before taking the helm at Louvre Abu Dhabi, he headed Musées Française, a French government-backed consultancy that develops museums. It was established following the signing of an intergovernmental agreement between France and the United Arab Emirates. Early in his career, Rabat held senior positions at the Louvre and the Musée Branly-Jacques Chirac in Paris.
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“I have always had a keen interest in South Asia, and India in particular, for its cultural richness and institutional life,” Rabat said in a statement. “I am delighted to be part of a project that will transform the museum landscape of the subcontinent.”
At KNMA, Rabat will work alongside the museum’s existing leadership team, which includes Chief Curator Roobina Karode and Director of Acquisitions and Development Deepanjana Klein. The museum said his appointment is intended to bring global museum leadership to the institution while expanding the scale of its operations while maintaining a regional focus.
During his tenure at Louvre Abu Dhabi, Rabat oversaw the construction and opening of Jean Nouvel’s iconic building, expanded the museum’s permanent collection, developed exhibition programs and helped establish curatorial infrastructure in a region where such roles had previously been restricted.
Rabat will resign from the Louvre Abu Dhabi on March 7 and is expected to take up his post in New Delhi in the first half of this year. Louvre Abu Dhabi said in a statement that it was searching for his successor, adding that the institution “expressed its gratitude to Manuel Rabat for his extraordinary contribution and wishes him every success in his new role.”
