Dovecot Studios in Edinburgh announces the appointment of Celia Joicey as its new Director, succeeding David Weir after his 17-year leadership.
Celia Joicey comments; “I am delighted to have been appointed to succeed David Weir as Director of Dovecot from September. This is an enormous privilege, given the 105-year history of the Studio and I look forward to working with colleagues to ensure Dovecot is recognised as a world centre of excellence for tapestry art and design.”
Alastair Salvesen CBE, Chair of The Dovecot Foundation, says; “I am delighted with the appointment of Celia Joicey, who brings a wealth of experience and expertise in the organisation and leadership of galleries and their activities, particularly in an area of direct relevance to tapestry and the other interests of Dovecot. She will be in an excellent position to maintain and enhance Dovecot’s position as a leading light in tapestry weaving and as an exhibition centre.”
Celia Joicey comments; “I am delighted to have been appointed to succeed David Weir as Director of Dovecot from September. This is an enormous privilege, given the 105-year history of the Studio and I look forward to working with colleagues to ensure Dovecot is recognised as a world centre of excellence for tapestry art and design.”
Celia Joicey is currently Head of the Fashion and Textile Museum in London, having joined in 2011. During this time she has raised the Museum’s profile with a series of critically acclaimed exhibitions including Artist Textiles: Picasso to Warhol and Liberty in Fashion. In addition, she has transformed the Museum’s income and overseen a trajectory of growth with visitor numbers increasing from 21,000 to 57,000 in 2016/17.
Joicey has also developed a number of international partnerships to showcase Mexican, Canadian and Swedish textile design in the UK. Prior to joining the Fashion and Textile Museum, she was Head of Publications at the National Portrait Gallery, and also worked for the Victoria and Albert Museum, University for the Creative Arts Farnham and the Royal Society of Arts, as Editor of the RSA Journal. She is a graduate of Cambridge University and the Royal College of Art.
Celia Joicey succeeds David Weir, who will be leaving Dovecot following 17 years’ very successful Directorship of Dovecot. With the financial support and backing of Alastair and Elizabeth Salvesen, Weir helped negotiate the acquisition and subsequent redevelopment of Infirmary Street Baths, a derelict former Victorian Baths in the Centre of Edinburgh. By 2008 this public building was established as a leading cross discipline art, exhibition and event space for craft and design with Dovecot Tapestry Studio as a dynamic and active working studio at its centre. He went on to lead the artistic vision and collaborative commissions of Dovecot; a specialist contemporary tapestry studio originally established in 1912.