Koch becomes new director of art collections in Dresden

Lars-Christian Koch is to become the new Director of the State Ethnographic Collections (SES) of the Dresden State Art Collections (SKD). This was announced jointly by the Saxon Ministry of Culture and the SKD.

The Saxon Cabinet has confirmed the appointment. Koch takes up his post on October 1 and succeeds Léontine Meijer-van Mensch, who moved to Rotterdam in October 2024 as founding director of the new city museum.

Koch previously headed the Ethnological Museum in Berlin

Koch was previously Director of the Ethnological Museum and the Museum of Asian Art at the Humboldt Forum in Berlin (Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation). He is also an honorary professor at the Berlin University of the Arts and an honorary professor at Humboldt University Berlin as well as an adjunct professor of ethnomusicology at the University of Cologne.

"With Lars-Christian Koch, the Dresden State Art Collections are gaining an outstandingly experienced ethnologist and museum director," said the Director General of the Dresden State Art Collections, Bernd Ebert. "Especially in times of intense discussions about the role and future of ethnological museums, his confident leadership is a great asset."