Biography
Ngaire Blankenberg is Director of the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art (2021–present). Previously, she served as a consultant for museums and cultural destinations around the world, finding innovative ways to connect cultural resources to new audiences and reimagining the museums of the future. Her consulting clients include the National Gallery of Canada, Superblue; Museum and Archive of the Constitution at the Hill (Johannesburg); the Canadian Museum for Human Rights; MEG (Musée d’ethnographie de Genève); and Olympique de Marseille football club.
She has advised on integrating cultural spaces in cities and parks, developing art residencies, making archives accessible, engaging communities and decolonising knowledge production. Blankenberg was Head of Content and Strategy for Kossmanndejong, an Amsterdam-based design agency (2017). From 2008 to 2016 she worked as a Senior Consultant, Principal Consultant and finally European Director at notable global cultural planning firm Lord Cultural Resources.
She co-edited (with Gail Dexter Lord), Cities, Museums and Soft Power (American Alliance of Museums, 2015) which urges museums to play a more vital role in creating equitable, inclusive and empowering cities; and co-edited (with Ali Hossaini), the Manual of Digital Museum Planning (Rowman and Littlefield, 2017) which provides practical guidance for cultural institutes to transform to reflect new digital realities.
Blankenberg speaks, lectures and teaches frequently on the changing role of museums, most frequently on themes such as Decolonisation and Diversity, Museums and Soft Power; and Museums and Placemaking. She is also an award-winning TV and documentary producer and director, and public speaker.
She holds an MA in media and cultural studies from the University of Natal in Durban, South Africa and a BA in journalism from Carleton University, Ottawa.
Born in Winnipeg, Canada, Blankenberg lives and works in Washington, DC.
SAF participation:
March Meeting 2022