Charles Esche

(b. 1962) is a British-born art critic, writer and curator working in Eindhoven and Edinburgh.

He is the Director of the Van Abbemuseum in Eindhoven and co-editor of Afterall research publishing organisation based at the Central St.Martins College of Art and Design in London, as well as an advisor at the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam and visitng professor at the Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti in Milan. His research interest focuses on the relationship between art practice and social change. His critical reader (co-edited with Will Bradley) Art and Social Change was issued by Afterall and Tate Publishing in 2007. He curated and co-curated major art shows including An Idea for Living – Realism and Reality in Contemporary Slovenian Art (6th Triennial of Contemporary Slovenian Art, Moderna Galerija, Ljubljana, 2010), Heartland (Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, 2008–2009), Once is Nothing (1st Brussels Biennale, in collaboration with BAK, basis voor actuele kunst, Utrecht, 2008-2009), Becoming Dutch (Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, 2007–2008), Forms of Resistance (Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, 2007) Riwaq Biennial (Ramallah, 2007) and 9th Istanbul Biennial (Istanbul, 2005). As an art critic he contributed to art magazines like Artforum, Frieze, Parkett, Art Monthly and many others.

On the day of Auditorium Moscow’s opening, Charles Esche will give a talk about building self-critical institutions and their relation to the reinvention of the museum-audience.