Lecture by Lucy Askew 'Collecting for a nation: feminist strategies, institutional challenges and change'
Museum of Modern Art, Warsaw
Marszałkowska 103
23rd November (Sunday), 2025, 16:00
Language: English
Lucy Askew will conduct a session on the challenges and ethics of contemporary collecting in public museums and beyond for art workers and academics researching these subjects. Sebastian Cichocki, Senior Curator at the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw, will introduce the session.
Lucy Askew: 'It’s not a poetic title (which I do typically like), but hopefully instead gives a sense of what I’ll be considering. Having been thinking about the context of Alison Gingeras’s show, and reflecting on my own practice (which we don’t get to do so often here), I’d like to use this opportunity to consider the ways in which I’ve tried to work through a feminist perspective within a large organisation with historically hierarchical / patriarchal structures, and work to support wider processes of institutional change through collecting. The Modern & Contemporary part of National Galleries of Scotland comprises c.6000 objects out of a collection numbering 120,000, so much of my work has been about championing the contemporary (often seen as the ‘problem child’) while simultaneously trying to redress historical imbalances in the demographic make-up of the artists represented in the collection we hold on behalf of Scotland. We have made some significant in-roads in the past decade, and the work has evolved to embed thinking through an intersectional lens, with hopes and ambitions for the future still unfolding. I’ll aim to trace a number of key acquisitions from the last 10 years+ that relate to the context in Scotland and our support of Scottish artists, while recognising our global ties and the international outlook of our artist constituents. I’ll touch on the relationship between acquisitions and public programme, practical challenges/barriers, and the different tactics for change – from naming and articulating the problem to instigating policy development, financial hurdles, from internal allegiances, external collaboration and solidarity, overt/covert strategies, and a feminist method that centres human connection and care, openness, reflection and persistence."
Lucy Askew has been Chief Curator at the National Galleries of Scotland since 2019, where she is co-lead for the Modern and Contemporary collection, programme and team. Her work covers exhibition-making, collection development, research, and strategic activity. She has curated numerous exhibitions including major solo shows devoted to the work of artists such as Alberta Whittle, Bridget Riley, Katie Paterson, Jenny Saville and Louise Bourgeois, and has co-curated large-scale group exhibitions including 'GENERATION – 25 Years of Contemporary Art in Scotland' (2014). Previous roles include Senior Curator, National Galleries of Scotland (2011-2018); Curator of ARTIST ROOMS, the collection jointly owned by Tate and the National Galleries of Scotland (2008-2011); and Assistant Curator (International Art), Tate Modern (2004-2008). Lucy studied at the University of St Andrews and the Courtauld Institute of Art, London. She is a member of the Board of Trustees for The Common Guild, Glasgow, and Edinburgh Art Festival.
The session is part of the UK/Poland Season 2025 programme supported by the British Council Momentum Follow Up Found.