Makeda Best, a deputy director of the Oakland Museum of California and a photographer, has been appointed as the new chief of the photography department at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York. She will lead the department, overseeing its collection, exhibitions, and programming.
This appointment matters because MoMA's photography department is one of the most influential in the world, and Best brings a unique combination of museum leadership experience and artistic practice. Her background as both an administrator and a photographer may signal a shift toward more practice-informed curatorial approaches at the institution.