Devyani Saltzman.Paul Saltzman/Supplied
Canadian cultural leader Devyani Saltzman will depart the top arts-programming job at London’s renowned Barbican Centre just shy of two years since taking the position.
Ms. Saltzman held some of Canada’s highest-profile cultural programming jobs prior to joining the Barbican, bringing a multidisciplinary perspective to the Art Gallery of Ontario, the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity and the Luminato Festival in Toronto.
She was hired in 2024, at a time when Barbican Centre was at a critical juncture. It was both trying to reimagine its arts programming after the COVID-19 pandemic and reckoning with several years of turmoil and leadership changes, after it was revealed in 2021 that a group of staff had raised more than 100 instances of racism and discrimination.
The centre’s leadership tumult didn’t end then. Claire Spencer, the chief executive officer who hired Ms. Saltzman, left several months after her hiring, and after just two years on the job. She was replaced on an interim basis by David Farnsworth, with permanent replacement Abigail Pogson, the former CEO of the Glasshouse International Centre for Music, becoming the Barbican Centre’s CEO in January.
The large, multidisciplinary facility – home to the London Symphony Orchestra – is expected to close for a year beginning in 2028 for building upgrades.
While the Barbican Centre did not give a reason for Ms. Saltzman’s exit in its press release announcing the news Tuesday, it said that the director for arts position would no longer be maintained, after the impending closure and Ms. Saltzman’s efforts to reimagine its arts programming. Just months ago, the Barbican Centre credited her with building out its five-year artistic vision.
“This chapter has been defined by the joy of collaboration, ambition, and bold programming,” Ms. Saltzman said in an e-mailed statement. Her work, she said, amounted to a “complete reset” of the cultural centre’s artistic vision. “The most profound shift happened internally, creating new cross-arts structures that enabled teams to collaborate and work as one institution that centred deeper engagement with artists and audiences worldwide.”
The Barbican’s press release heralded Ms. Saltzman’s push for cross-disciplinary, community-focused and discourse-driving programming.
Her formal departure will take place in May. She is expected to publish her next book, Exiting: Towards a Future of Work that Serves Us All, with Random House Canada in 2027. The Oxford-educated programmer is also the daughter of acclaimed filmmakers Deepa Mehta and Paul Saltzman.