Curatorial Practice as Public Scholarship: On fluid geographies and transdisciplinary forms

In this presentation, Martha Kirszenbaum interrogates the methodologies of an eclectic curatorial practice developed across diverse geopolitical landscapes. The talk examines the fluid negotiation between art institutions and experimental, non-traditional spaces, illustrating how to navigate differing cultural terrains while resisting sometimes rigid institutional frameworks. Kirszenbaum will analyze her approach to centering contemporary culture at the critical intersection of the visual arts, music, performance, and popular culture. Through a selection of past and current projects, she investigates the construction of an independent, interdisciplinary curatorial practice that remains deeply embedded within global subcultural discourses.

The Curatorial Research Cluster is a UBC collaboration with the Belkin, the Department of Art History,  Visual Art and Theory, the Department of Anthropology, Creative and Critical Studies (UBCO), the School of Music, the Museum of Anthropology, UBC Okanagan Gallery and the Indigenous Art Intensive, with funding from UBC’s Grants for Catalyzing Research Clusters program. Through these interdisciplinary networks inside and beyond UBC, the Curatorial Research Cluster is dialogic about what curating can mean today.

Martha Kirszenbaum is a curator, writer and editor based in Paris. Her work has explored multidisciplinary and decompartmentalized approaches to curating art practices, bringing together visual arts, performance, dance, film and music. She graduated from Sciences-Po in Paris and Columbia University, was the curator of the French Pavilion of the 58th Venice Biennale, and founded and directed Fahrenheit—an exhibition space and residency program in Los Angeles. She previously held positions at MoMA, New Museum and Centre Pompidou and has organized exhibitions, screenings, performances and talks at renowned international institutions. She is a regular contributor to numerous art publications, sits on the Editorial Board of CURA. Magazine, and teaches internationally.