Seb Chan is the Director & CEO of ACMI, guiding a museum focused on screen culture and the intersection of media, technology, worldbuilding and storytelling. Prior to his appointment to this role, Seb was ACMI’s and the museum field’s first Chief Experience Officer (2015-22), and was a key part of the team behind ACMI’s expansion into a multi-award winning, multiplatform museum.

Before his time with ACMI, Seb led the digital transformation of the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum in New York from its award winning interactive Pen to the acquisition of software-based works for the Smithsonian’s collection (2011–15). Beginning his museum career in Sydney he led the Powerhouse Museum’s pioneering work in open access, mass collaboration and digital experience during the 2000s in Sydney. His work has won awards internationally in the museum, media and design spheres. 

Before becoming known in the museum world, Seb had a successful life in electronic music as half of the Australian duo Sub Bass Snarl (since 1992) who regularly performed across Australia in the 1990s and 2000s from Big Day Out festivals and underground clubs. 

He was part of the collective that founded long running weekly Sydney club night Frigid (1996-2006), bringing many international groups to Sydney, and building a rich ecology of electronic and experimental music, and live film remixing and VJing. He also co-founded and published Cyclic Defrost Magazine (1998-) and also Sound Summit (1999-2003) as part of the annual This Is Not Art youth arts festivals in Newcastle. He produced a weekly radio show on 2SER (1995-2007) and Radio Skid Row (1991-1995). 

Seb is Adjunct Professor, School of Media and Communications, in the College of Design and Social Context at RMIT. He has been Partner Investigator on Australian Research Council Linkage projects that have contributed to new museum practices in communicating climate change, digital preservation, interactive design, collecting practice, and audience research. He has contributed papers and chapters to books on museum practice, and has delivered talks and presentations in over 100 museum, media and design conferences and symposia in Europe, Asia, and the Americas. 

Seb is the National President of the Australian Museums and Galleries Association (AMaGA) and also serves on the international advisory board member of Art Science Museum (Singapore) and a Board member of the non-profit Tessitura Network (US). He previously served on the boards of the National Communication Museum, Diversity Arts Australia, ICE Parramatta, and Music NSW; and has been an advisor to the National Museum of Australia, National Heritage Board of Singapore, Mellon Foundation’s Artstor, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, Balboa Park (San Diego), and was a member of the Australian Government’s Gov2.0 Taskforce in 2009. 

He is an alumnus of the Getty Leadership Institute, Salzburg Global Seminar and UNSW.