Sam Thorne is a curator and writer committed to education, experimentation and exchange. As a museum director, Sam was most recently director of Nottingham Contemporary, where he oversaw more than 30 exhibitions; prior to that he was artistic director of Tate St Ives. Previously, he was associate editor of frieze magazine, was a co-founder of Open School East, a free-to-attend independent studies programme, and is the author of the book School (2017). Sam has taught and lectured widely at universities and art schools, and written numerous catalogue essays and articles. He grew up visiting Japan regularly with his Japanese-speaking mother.