The Southbank Centre has appointed Sally Tallant Director of the Hayward Gallery and Visual Arts. Tallant will take up the role from July 2026 and will lead a programme of work that includes directing and curating exhibitions at the Hayward Gallery, the Southbank Centre’s contemporary art space. Sally will also organise visual arts installations across the whole Southbank Centre site and will oversee a national programme of work through Hayward Gallery Touring which reaches hundreds of thousands of people across the UK every year.
I am delighted to be returning to London as Director of the Hayward Gallery and Visual Arts, Southbank Centre. It is an honour to join Mark Ball and Elaine Bedell, and to build on the outstanding legacy of Ralph Rugoff, shaping the next chapter of this vital cultural destination and civic institution.” Sally Tallant
Tallant is currently Director of the Queens Museum in New York, where she has overseen over 30 major exhibitions, including Fia Backstrom, A Billion Dollar Dream, Suzanne Lacy, Tracey Rose, Christine Sun Kim, Aliza Nisenbaum, Aki Sasamoto, Lyle Ashton Harris, Stephanie Dinkins, Charisse Pearlina Weston, Emilie Gossiaux, Caroline Kent, Pia Camil and Mierle Laderman Ukeles as well as wide-reaching education, public programmes and community events in one of the most diverse communities in the US.
In her role as Director of the Queens Museum, she has also commissioned six permanent public artworks for Delta Airlines Terminal B at LaGuardia Airport by Rashid Johnson, Fred Wilson, Ronny Quevedo, Aliza Nisenbaum, Mariam Ghani and Virginia Overton.
Under her leadership, the Queens Museum received the prestigious CIMAM Outstanding Museum Practice Award in 2021 for Cultural Food Pantry and Year of Uncertainty, highlighting the institution’s radical recalibration of its mission during the Covid pandemic.
Formerly Artistic Director and CEO of the Liverpool Biennial, from 2011–2019, Sally directed the UK’s largest international festival of contemporary art, commissioning over 120 artists across four Biennial editions and pioneering a biennial model grounded in research, education, partnership and civic engagement.
During her time at the Liverpool Biennial, Tallant commissioned large-scale exhibitions and public art projects by artists including Ugo Rondinone, Peter Blake, Lara Favaretto, Betty Woodman, Tobias Rehberger, Carlos Cruz Diez, Rita McBride, Dan Graham and Koo Jeong A. She also commissioned large-scale performance and music events including Meredith Monk, Rhys Chatham and Michael Nyman and organised seven touring exhibitions across the North of England.
Prior to that, she was Head of Programmes at the Serpentine Gallery from 2001–2011, where she was responsible for the development and delivery of an integrated programme of exhibitions, architecture, education and public programmes. Tallant was an Assistant Curator early in her career at the Hayward Gallery in 2001.
It is a pleasure to welcome Sally Tallant as Director of the Hayward Gallery and Visual Arts at the Southbank Centre. Joining our leadership team at a pivotal moment, Sally takes the helm of a gallery that has defined global contemporary art for sixty years. As we look toward our 75th anniversary, I am confident Sally will ensure the legacy of the Festival of Britain propels the Southbank Centre into a new era of civic impact, strengthening our commitment to artists and audiences alike for the next 75 years.” Elaine Bedell OBE, CEO Southbank Centre
Tallant takes over from Ralph Rugoff OBE, who will step down in Spring 2026 after 20 years in the post. Beyond the end of his Director role, Ralph Rugoff will provide curatorial oversight for a major retrospective of Anish Kapoor, opening on 16 June 2026 as part of the Southbank Centre’s 75th Anniversary celebrations.
