SYDNEY—The Biennale of Sydney has announced the appointment of curator David Elliott as artist director of the next event, in 2010.

Elliott, born in the U.K. and based in London, Berlin, and Istanbul, has served as director of the Museum of Modern Art in Oxford, the Moderna Museet in Stockholm, the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo, and the Istanbul Museum of Modern Art. Elliott's work focuses on contemporary art, the Russian avant-garde, and non-Western visual culture from the late 19th century to the present.

The central subject of the 2010 biennale "will be contemporary art and why it is one of the most important activities in which we can be engaged," Elliott said in a statement. "This is, because if it is any good, it balances enjoyment with wisdom by offering creative, free and open perspectives that are desperately needed in complicated times."

The 2008 Biennale of Sydney: Revolutions & Forms That Turn is currently under way through September 7, under the direction of Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev.