
Today, New York’s Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) appointed Sean Anderson as associate curator in its Department of Architecture and Design, which is effective immediately. Under the leadership of Martino Stierli, The Philip Johnson Chief curator of architecture and design, Anderson will work with other associates to develop the institution’s collection, exhibitions, and public programs that have an emphasis on contemporary architecture dating back to 1990. The responsibilities of this new position include supervising the recurring “Issues in Contemporary Architecture” exhibition series, assisting in the Young Architects Program both at MoMA PS1 and with global partners, and serving as the principal liaison to local communities and around the world. This role is a new position within the department, while absorbing some of the duties of Pedro Gadanho, a former MoMA curator who left to become the first artistic director of Libson's new Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology.
Anderson was previously a senior lecturer of design and history, and undergraduate program director at the University of Sydney in Australia, a position he had held since 2012. His research includes fieldwork involving the evolution of architectural spaces in Africa and South Asia, and a concentration on borders. Specific studies related to these areas included how Italian modernism affected the architectural spaces of Eritrea and Libya, researching detention centers in Australasia, and research in colonial and postcolonial architecture in Sri Lanka—which was funded by the Fulbright Program.
His decorated educational career prior to joining Australia’s first public university includes an undergraduate degree from Cornell University, an M.Arch. from Princeton University, and a PhD in art history from the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA). He also worked and lectured in India, Afghanistan, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco, and Italy.
In 2004, Anderson was also named a fellow of the American Academy in Rome, where he studied Modern Italian Studies. Support by other programs for his cultural and architectural research in the past includes the Social Science Research Council, UCLA, and the Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa.