Ryan Johnston

Ryan Johnston is Head of Academic Programs, Museums & Collections Department at the University of Melbourne. Previously Ryan was Director, Buxton Contemporary, the new contemporary art museum at the University of Melbourne’s Southbank campus. From 2012 to 2018 he was Head of Art at the Australian War Memorial, where he developed a wide-ranging contemporary art commissioning program to address the complex histories and legacies of conflict. Prior to joining the Memorial, Johnston was acting Director of the Shepparton Art Museum in Victoria, and he also worked for several years as a lecturer in the former School of Creative Arts at the University of Melbourne. His research focuses on post-war and contemporary arts, and he is the author of recent essays and/or book chapters on the artists Fiona Hall, Douglas Watkin, Tom Nicholson and the APY Art Centre Collective. Ryan is also currently a Chief Investigators of the ‘Art in Conflict’ ARC linkage project led by Curtin University with research partners University of Melbourne, University of Manchester, University of NSW and the Australian War Memorial.