Stratford, London; and the Kengo Kuma-designed V&A Dundee in Scotland. The V&A's international programme and profile developed markedly under Martin Roth's leadership the V&A will partner with the Smithsonian Institution to create a permanent gallery space as a part of V&A East; the V&A and China Merchants Gekou Holdings (CMGK) have jointly launched the Design Society, a complex comprising a new design museum by Maki and Associates, and the V&A Gallery. In 2007, Roth was appointed the French Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in the rank of Chevalier and, in 2010, to the Danish Order of Dannebrog (Dannebrogordenen). In 2013, he was awarded th the Brilliant Contribution Award of International Cultural Exchange by People's Republic of China. In 2015, he received the Pushkin Medal, Russia, and Bundesverdienstkreuz 1. Klasse, Germany. Roth stepped down as director of the V&A on 6 September 2016. While he had planned to leave the museum by 2017, he brought forward his departure following what he said was "despair" at the vote to Leave the European Union, which he described as a "personal defeat". Roth was replaced by the historian, journalist and former Labour MP Tristram Hunt. At the time of his death, Roth was a special advisor to the German Foreign Ministry for Cultural Matters and the president-elect of IfA, Institute for Foreign Relations (Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen). He was also a trustee of the Goethe Institute, the foundation of arts and music for Dresden (Stiftung Kunst und Musik für Dresden), Germany, member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Agenda 2020 Culture Panel, non-executive director of Expo 2020 Dubai, member of the advisory board of the , member of the board of the foundation of arts and music for Dresden (Stiftung Kunst und Musik für Dresden) and senior associate at the AEA Consulting. 2017 Venice Biennale controversy Roth was appointed co-curator of the Azerbaijan Pavilion, sponsored by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, at the 2017 Venice Biennale. In his curator's statement, Roth described Azerbaijan as "a blueprint for the tolerant coexistence of people of different cultures”. Azerbaijan subsequently widely reproduced printed images of Roth together with his "blueprint" assertion. A response editorial in Der Tagesspiegel questioned whether Roth had "left his mind behind in London", pointing out that, according to Human Rights Watch, Azerbaijan, under President Ilham Aliyev (the "dictator of Baku") has "one of the worst human rights records in the international community". In a