Fiona Allan named chair of the Space

Curve chief executive Fiona Allan is to become chair of online arts platform the Space.

Allan, who was recently named as the new chief executive of the Birmingham Hippodrome, will become chair of the Space in September. She is expected to join the Hippodrome in the autumn after leaving Leicester’s Curve.

The Space, funded by Arts Council England and the BBC, aims to provide arts organisations with a platform to experiment with digital technology and bring their work to a wider audience online.

Allan said “digital technology offers ever-increasing opportunities for the arts”. “Not only can it increase access in this way to traditional work, but it also enables new artistic experiences,” she added.

Allan described having the opportunity to “help shape the future of the cultural sector” as an “exciting prospect”.

Jonty Claypole, director of arts at the BBC and currently interim chair of the Space, said Allan’s “commitment to finding new ways for audiences to participate marries with the ambition of the Space to deliver great art digitally”.

From the autumn, the Space will be based in Birmingham, which is where Allan will be working in her new role as chief executive of the Birmingham Hippodrome.