As of press time, some 250 cultural figures from around the world have signed an open letter in support of Devyani Saltzman, the former director of London’s Barbican Centre. Saltzman left abruptly earlier this week, just a few weeks after Abigail Pogson was appointed chief executive.

Notable signatories include artists John Akomfrah and Isaac Julien, filmmaker Mira Nair, curators Mark Sealy and Zoé Whitley, writers Salman Rushdie and Kiran Desai, and

Saltzman was named director of arts and participation in February 2024, and was tasked with reimagining the future of the institution. Her mandate, according to a post on LinkedIn, was to build a “future-facing programme that reflects the complexity and possibility of our time across theatre, music, visual arts, cinema, creative collaboration and immersive.” She will be departing the Barbican in May of this year.