Will Gompertz joins Barbican as director of arts and learning

The Barbican Centre has appointed BBC arts editor Will Gompertz to the new role of director of arts and learning.

According to the Barbican, the role will "bring together the arts and creative learning departments for the first time, and working with the art form and learning leads, Gompertz will lead the creation and delivery of the next phase of the Barbican's artistic vision."

Gompertz has been with the BBC since 2009 and was formerly director of the Tate galleries.

Of his new role, he said: "I am absolutely delighted to be joining the Barbican after 11 very happy years as the BBC's arts editor. I look forward to leading the superb art form and creative learning teams, at this hugely significant time for both the institution and the broad audiences it serves."

Nicholas Kenyon, the Barbican's managing director, responded: "Working with our leaders in the art forms and creative learning, he will reinvent the Barbican's commitment to 'arts without boundaries' in the radically changed environment after the pandemic. We look forward to working with him."

Next year the Barbican, which presents work across dance, film, music, theatre and visual arts, will mark its 40th anniversary.