Melanie Keen
Melanie Keen is an arts professional and the director of the Wellcome Collection. She has worked extensively in promoting the Black Arts Movement in the UK.Career
Keen grew up in the East End of London, her parents of Afro-Caribbean background. She studied at East Ham College of Technology in 1980s, where she took inspiration from Sonia Boyce to pursue study of fine art. Later she achieved an MA in curating at the Royal College of Art.
She works as an independent curator and consultant, supporting events and exhibitions such as the Freize Art Fare and the Venice Biennale, also at Chelsea College of Art as a research assistant and at Arts Council England. She joined Iniva as an assistant curator, eventually becoming Director. She was appointed Director of Wellcome Collection in June 2019. She also sits on the advisory board of the Government Art Collection.
She has been the subject of artwork itself, sitting for Dutch photographer Carla van de Puttelaar.
