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• Issue #281
• Article

Makeda Best will begin her post at MoMA in September. Photo: courtesy Unique Nicole/MoMA.

The Museum of Modern Art has appointed Makeda Best as its new chief curator for photography, finally filling a position that had been vacant since the departure of Clément Chéroux four years ago.

Best arrives from the Oakland Museum of California, where she has served as a deputy director of curatorial affairs since 2023, where she oversaw collection displays and special exhibitions. Her new role, which will begin in September, encompasses all aspects of the department, including acquisitions, installations, exhibitions, publications and loan programs.

"MoMA is one of the only institutions in the world with the platform and the commitment to photography that these times demand," Best said. "Photography is vital to understanding who we are as a society. I look forward to pursuing new research, and to helping audiences develop the visual and critical tools needed to navigate this complex world."

Best is the second chief curator to have been appointed by MoMA's new director, Christophe Cherix, who took over from Glenn Lowry, the museum's long-serving head, in September last year.

After training as a photographer at CalArts, Best obtained a history of art and architecture doctorate from Harvard, where her dissertation focused on Alexander Gardner, a Civil War photographer. She went on to serve as a photography curator at the Harvard Art Museums.

Alongside her work at the Oakland Museum, Best has curated exhibitions elsewhere, including "American Job" at New York's International Center of Photography, a survey of 20th-century photographs documenting labor organizing and strike activity.

"Makeda's distinguished career as a curator, scholar, and institutional leader brings a fresh vision to the field," Cherix said in a statement. "She champions photography's singular power to connect with audiences through storytelling, seamlessly crossing boundaries into sociology, environmentalism, performance art, labor, and civic life."