Sandy Nairne has been Director of the National Portrait Gallery, London, since 2002, and is former Director of Programmes at the Tate. He worked alongside Nicholas Serota in the building of Tate Modern and the Centenary Development at Tate Britain.
Which object or art work has inspired you to innovate or have a great idea?
Working with Michael Nelson Tjakamarra (an aboriginal artist from Australia) in the mid 1980s as part of State of the Art was an extraordinary experience and one that taught me to think very differently about the strength and continuities of non-Western cultures.
Michael Nelson Tjakamarra (Australia, born c.1946), The eight dreamings, 1991, Adelaide. South Australian Government Grant 1991. Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide
Which person has most inspired you?
Sir Christopher Wren - because his achievements in science and mechanics were then surpassed by his astonishing triumph of St Paul’s Cathedral.
It is a building that continues to delight and amaze me.
St Paul's Cathedral
Which idea or invention are you most proud of?
The creation of the MA programme at the Royal College of Art – creating and commissioning Contemporary Art – came out of my period at the Arts Council. I think that it has made a difference to the depth and complexity of Curatorship in the UK today.
Which innovation will have the most impact in the future?
The internet has to be the most powerful means of joining up communities of interest around the globe, and therefore offering the chance to find solutions that are needed for global issues.
Tell us what you think. We would like you to use our simple Storymaker editing tool to tell us what you'd put in a museum of me. We will be selecting some of the most interesting examples and publishing them next to the expert’s views during MGM 2008.
