The Polygon is pleased to announce the appointment of Monika Szewczyk as the Gallery’s second Audain Chief Curator.

A native of Szczecin, Poland, Monika immigrated to Vancouver at an early age and spent foundational years here, counting Scott Watson and Daina Augaitis as curatorial mentors, at the Morris and Helen Belkin Gallery and the Vancouver Art Gallery.

Since leaving Vancouver in 2007, Monika has held key leadership roles as Head of Publications at the Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art in Rotterdam (now Kunstinstituut Melly); Visual Arts Programme Curator at the Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts, University of Chicago; and one of the curators of documenta 14 in Kassel and Athens (where she was based). Recently, as director of de Appel in Amsterdam, she worked with the team and key public and philanthropic partners to add new resources and structure, particularly to de Appel’s renowned Curatorial Programme.

An active teacher throughout her career, Monika will begin her tenure as Audain Chief Curator at The Polygon on April 1, 2023, while completing her current appointment as QuiS Research Fellow at the Städelschule/Goëthe Universität in Frankfurt – using her current base between Amsterdam and Frankfurt to connect The Polygon to key emergent practice and like-minded institutions.