Josh Basseches, director and CEO of the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM), announced on June 5 that he will step down at the end of 2025 after a decade in the role. Under his leadership, the museum underwent three renovations and one expansion, including the reopening of the Weston Entrance, the creation of the Willner Madge Gallery Dawn of Life, and the launch of the C$130m OpenROM renovation project. Notable exhibitions during his tenure included Christian Dior, Kent Monkman: Being Legendary, and Auschwitz. Not long ago. Not far away.
Basseches’s departure marks a significant transition for Canada’s most-visited museum, which attracted over 1.1 million visitors in 2024 and holds a collection of 18 million items. His tenure saw both major physical transformations and a controversy in 2023 when the museum was accused of censoring a work by Palestinian American artist Jenin Yaseen, though the painting was later reinstated. The ROM’s board of trustees will now search for a successor to lead the institution through its next phase.