| Sonia Solicari | |
| Nationality: | British |
| Birth Date: | July 1978[1] |
| Occupation: | Curator, Director of the Museum of the Home |
Sonia Solicari is a British curator and museum director at Museum of the Home. Solicari has been the Director of the Museum of the Home, in Hoxton, London, since January 2017.[2] [3] [4] [5] Solicari is also co-director of the Centre for Studies of Home, a partnership with Queen Mary, University of London and an international hub for research on the home, past, present and future.[6]
Solicari was born in London to Italian parents and grew up in Enfield, north London where she attended Galliard Primary School and Bishop Stopford's School.[7] [3]
Solicari completed her undergraduate studies in English Literature at Royal Holloway, University of London, followed by postgraduate degrees in Nineteenth-Century Studies at King's College London and Museum Studies at University College London.[7]
Solicari began her career at the Victoria and Albert Museum as assistant curator of the paintings, prints and drawings collection and later of the Chinese textiles collection. In 2006 she became curator of ceramics and glass part of the team delivering the new Ceramics Galleries, which opened in 2009 and 2010.[7] [3] [4]
In 2010, Solicari was appointed Principal Curator of the Guildhall Art Gallery in the City of London and promoted to Head of the Gallery in 2013.[8] [6] Here she led the complete redisplay of the City’s art collection and launched a new public programme, including Victoriana: The Art of Revival in 2013; Ajamu X Fierce in 2014 and, the first exhibition of its kind in the UK, in 2015-2016. In 2015, Solicari initiated a new collecting and programme strategy, Money, Power, Politics, working with artists to interrogate the role of London’s square mile - including Martin Parr, Polly Braden, Martha Richler (Marf) and Mark Titchner.
In 2017, Solicari became Director of Museum of the Home (formerly the Geffrye Museum of the Home) in Hoxton, east London. She succeeded David Dewing who had run the Museum for 25 years.[2]
As Director of the Museum, Solicari has overseen an £18.6 million capital development project[9] to expand and transform the site. The restoration of the Grade I Listed Museum buildings was overseen by architects Wright & Wright who created 80% more space for events, collections and exhibitions.[10]
Solicari also oversaw the rebranding of the Museum, with the name changed to Museum of the Home to better reflect the new vision to represent home as a physical, emotional, psychological and political space and to become a more socially engaged organisation.[11]
With Alison Blunt, Solicari is co-director of the Centre for Studies of Home, a collaboration with Queen Mary, University of London.[12]
Solicari is a trustee of Bethlem Gallery which works with artists to lead change in health and society.