Melanie Keen

Melanie Keen, Director, Wellcome Collection (UK)

Melanie Keen is the Director of the Wellcome Collection in London, part of the global Wellcome charitable foundation. Her vision is to explore and expand ideas about health, focusing on how it affects everyone, and reimagining health’s future. She is dedicated to challenging cultural assumptions about race, disability, gender, and the connection between human and planetary health. A graduate of the Royal College of Art, Keen has extensive experience as a curator and in arts policy, previously serving as Director and Chief Curator at Iniva, where she revitalised its mission by establishing the Stuart Hall Library as its creative hub.

Keen is passionate about civic responsibility, having served as a school governor in Hackney and as a trustee for several organisations, including the Government Art Collection and the British Council Collection. She has judged numerous prestigious arts awards, including the Turner Prize 2023. Keen regularly speaks at public events and was a keynote speaker at the Museums Association Conference in 2020. She has been featured in various notable publications and was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the University of the Arts London in 2022 for her contributions to curation and arts management.