As of 1 June Mike Anderson, presently Cultural Governance programme leader at Kunst & Zaken, will be director of the AAMU Museum of contemporary Aboriginal art in Utrecht. He will succeed Ms Daniëlle van den Broek, who was director of AAMU until 1 December 2008.
In his position as programme leader, from 2005 onwards Mike Anderson (47) was in charge of the Cultural Governance programme carried out by the organisation Kunst & Zaken at the request of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science. This included communicating the principles of Cultural Governance (sound administration and adequate supervision) to the cultural sector and local authorities in the Netherlands, advising and supporting the sector regarding governance issues and developing the Cultural Governance Code. In connection with this Code, which was presented in January 2007, he collaborated with cultural institutions, funding bodies, provincial and municipal authorities, and umbrella organisations such as the Netherlands Museum Association. Before moving to the cultural sector, he worked in the business sector; his positions included Head of HRM and Systems Engineering Manager in which he had shared responsibility for attaining turnover and customer satisfaction objectives.
The new director will build on AAMU’s present policy plan. Mike Anderson: ˜As director and business manager I intend to work towards expanding the museum’s network and financial basis and to position AAMU as a contemporary art museum of national and international importance.’
AAMU is the only museum in Europe that is entirely dedicated to contemporary Aboriginal art and it therefore occupies a unique position. It does not receive any systematic funding, but does receive considerable annual financial support from a number of private individuals.
The museum’s collection is regarded by the Dutch government as a collection of national importance. AAMU is acknowledged by the Australian government as an important platform for Australian cultural heritage in Europe. To organise exhibitions the museum collaborates with several museums, art galleries and private collectors in the Netherlands and abroad and exhibits contemporary Aboriginal art in the context of developments in other contemporary art.
