Tate Modern director follows Tate Britain director out of door

Chris Dercon is to step down as director of Tate Modern, the second director to announce a departure from the Tate Galleries in as many months.

The Belgian-born curator and documentary maker, who took up his post at Britain's leading contemporary art gallery in 2011, is leaving to become director of the Volksbuhne, an experimental theatre in Berlin.

He will take up the position in summer 2017, an extended departure that will allow him to see through the completion of the £215m Tate Modern extension, which is due to open in 2016.

News of his departure follows last month's announcement that Penelope Curtis, director of Tate Britain, was parting ways with the Millbank gallery to take up a new role at Lisbon's Gulbenkian museum.

Mr Dercon has previous experience in Germany, having directed the Haus der Kunst art gallery in Berlin from 2003 to 2011. He is the second senior British arts figure to announce a move to the country after British Museum director Neil MacGregor said he would become an adviser to the planned Humboldt-Forum in Berlin.

Sir Nicholas Serota, Tate director, said: "Chris Dercon is helping to open Tate Modern to a wider world and more diverse audiences through his support for a more international programme, photography, live performance and film.

"We look forward to working with him on the opening of the new Tate Modern and until he takes up his appointment in Berlin in 2017."

In his position as Tate Modern director, he was second in ranking to Sir Nicholas, who has led the Tate Galleries for 27 years; Mr Dercon's position at the Volksbuhne will give full control of operations in one of the city's most prominent cultural institutions.

The departure of two senior Tate figures in relatively close succession will potentially complicate the search for replacements. Overseas candidates are likely to be considered as well as British curators. Possible internal candidates include Achim Borchardt-Hume, head of exhibitions since 2012. Ivana Blazwick, director of the Whitechapel Art Gallery, could also figure in the field of contenders.

Some German critics had reacted with hostility to rumours in recent weeks that the Volksbuhne's next director was to be a British gallery curator. It is not unheard of for gallery professionals to move into pure performance arts. In 2013, for instance, Alex Beard left his position as deputy director of Tate galleries to become chief executive of the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden.

Tate Modern has also adopted a broad attitude to the question of what should appear in a gallery of contemporary art under Mr Dercon's watch: the Tanks galleries, built from the oil containers that once fuelled the power station's turbines and opened in 2012, are dedicated to performance art, along with film and installations.

Nonetheless there remain few examples of people crossing from visual arts to artistic directorships in performance arts. Alistair Smith, editor of The Stage, said: "They're quite discreet worlds. Performance arts can be an insular village at times and often they tend to draw from their own."

In a statement released on Friday, Michael Muller, governing mayor of Berlin, suggested Mr Dercon's skills in digital development, international outlook and focus on widening participation in the arts had been factors in his appointment.

Mr Dercon's tenure has seen Tate Modern cement its reputation as the leading contemporary art gallery. It was the fourth most popular UK visitor attraction in 2014 after the British Museum, the National Gallery and the South Bank Centre, a fall from its second-place slot in 2012, according to figures from the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions.

But it achieved record numbers in the same year with 5.7m visits, a milestone achieved partly through a blockbuster exhibition of cutouts by the French artist Henri Matisse, the most popular in the gallery's history and seen by 563,000 people.

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