We are delighted to announce that Ali Roche will join LUX as our new Director in April 2025. Her appointment marks an exciting new chapter for the organisation as we continue our mission to support and promote artists working with the moving image.
Ali is currently Chief Curator at Nottingham Contemporary and has previously held roles including Head of Commissions at Spike Island in Bristol and Producer at moving image commissioning agency Picture This. She has a background in commissioning, developing and producing ambitious new contemporary art works with a specialism in artists’ film and video. At Nottingham Contemporary she leads on the strategic delivery of both the exhibitions and live programmes in collaboration with the curatorial team, artists and partners from across the city, nationally and internationally, most recently developing exhibitions and new commissions with artists Julian Abraham ‘Togar’, Daniel Lind Ramos and the upcoming thematic group exhibition ‘Your Ears Later Will Know to Listen’.
As Head of Commissions at Spike Island in Bristol, UK, she developed the organisation’s reputation for commissioning, production, and its’ artists’ moving image specialism. She also works as an Independent Producer through her company ANNWN Studio.
Ali has commissioned and produced projects and exhibitions with a range of artists including Eric Baudelaire & Alvin Curran, Maeve Brennan, Maryam Jafri, Adam Kahlil and Bayley Sweitzer, Imran Perretta, Larissa Sansour and P. Staff. Film works Ali has produced have been presented within the official programmes and competitions at major film festivals including Locarno Film Festival, BFI London Film Festival, International Film Festival Rotterdam, New York Film Festival, and CPH:DOX and screened on platforms such as Netflix and MUBI. Works she has commissioned and produced have gone on to be included in major survey shows such as the British Art Show, Venice Biennale, and purchased by national and private collections.
LUX’s Board of Directors said: “We are delighted to welcome Ali Roche to LUX and are very excited about working with her across all of our activities. LUX has always been an artist-centered organisation and Ali’s enthusiasm for collaboration and seeking out new work has been clearly demonstrated. She brings to LUX fantastic experience working across the UK curating and producing projects in a diverse range of settings. This, with her enthusiasm and passion for LUX, indicated to us that she has the right qualities to lead the organisation in challenging times. We think she will be a worthy successor to Ben Cook who led LUX for 22 years – what they share is a selfless commitment to supporting artists, a quality central to the proper care of LUX’s unique and immensely valuable collection.”
Ali Roche said: “I have long admired LUX as a vital organisation whose roots and rich history are significant to artist film and video practice in the UK and Internationally. It is an organisation that has maintained a constant presence in the close perimeter of my career, one that I have followed closely for many years. I am honoured to follow in the footsteps of founder director Benjamin Cook, bringing my passion and longstanding commitment to artists’ film and video practice in all its diverse forms, to build upon the remarkable legacy he has built. LUX’s independent spirit, commitment to research, advocacy, artist development and circulation of artist’s moving image within the field of contemporary art is very special. I am tremendously excited to work with the brilliant team at LUX and LUX Scotland along with its Trustees and longstanding, existing and future collaborators, to develop the vision for its future.”
