Dr. Samantha Lackey has held the position of Director at Liverpool Biennial since late 2020. She joined the Biennial from her role as Head of Collection and Exhibitions at the Whitworth at the University of Manchester. Before this she was curator at The Hepworth Wakefield (2010-16), where she was part of the team that opened the gallery in 2011 to critical acclaim. Her background is in academia, receiving a PhD in 2005 in the subject of surrealism, which was the context of her work as a lecturer, research fellow and her first co-curated exhibition at the Whitworth, ‘Subversive Spaces: Surrealism and Contemporary Art.’ She has published on surrealism and contemporary art and worked on multiple group and solo exhibitions with artists including Cecily Brown, Susan Hefuna, Linder and Eva Rothschild. Sam also sits on the as Co-Vice Chair on the Executive Board of the International Biennial Association and is a Co-Director of Contemporary Visual Arts Network North West.