The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, DC, has appointed Colombian curator José Roca as its first curator of Latin American and Latin diasporic art. This new position is funded by Hirshhorn board chair Estrellita B. Brodsky. Roca, who previously served as the Estrellita B. Brodsky Adjunct Curator of Latin American Art at London’s Tate from 2012 to 2015, will focus on curating exhibitions and proposing acquisitions to enhance the museum’s collection of 20th- and 21st-century art from Mexico, the Caribbean, Central America, and South America.

“José Roca arrives at a critical moment for the Hirshhorn as we reimagine our campus design and collection depths to increase access to the nation’s collection of modern and contemporary art,” said Hirshhorn director Melissa Chiu. “Joseph H. Hirshhorn seeded our need for this focused role with his initial gift to the nation in 1966, which included many of the then-groundbreaking artists who have become foundational to our collection. We are indebted to our equally forward-thinking board chair, Dr. Brodsky, for supporting Roca’s appointment, which expands our curatorial team with a focus on the fulfillment of our mission.”

Roca, who will work remotely from Bogotá, brings extensive experience to the role. From 2012 to 2022, he and his partner Adriana Hurtado ran the Bogotá-based contemporary art space Flora ars+natura. During much of that time, he was also the curator of the Lara collection in Singapore. Roca served as the artistic director of the Twenty-Third Biennale of Sydney in 2022 and organized the inaugural exhibition of Miami’s El Espacio 23 in 2019. His other notable curatorial roles include head curator of the Eighth Bienal do Mercosul in Porto Alegre, Brazil, in 2011, and cocurator of the Twenty-Seventh São Paulo Bienal in 2006.

“As a curator who has championed art from the region both from within—I was the director of a museum in Colombia and later of an independent space—and abroad, this is a wonderful opportunity,” said Roca. “I am grateful to the Hirshhorn Museum and to Estrellita Brodsky for this appointment.”

Sayart / Amia Nguyen, amyngwyen13@gmail.com