Questions Facing Visual Arts Institutions in the Contemporary World
September 16, 2025, 10am
Visual Artists Ireland announces its inaugural curatorial programme, New Institutional Approaches to Curating—a one-day online gathering examining the shifting relationships between artists, institutions, curators, and audiences.
In response to political, ecological, and technological uncertainty, institutions are reconsidering their responsibilities to collections, publics, and histories. This closed-door convening brings together five curators from leading European contexts to reflect on commissioning, mediation, and the conditions sustaining artistic production.
Programme
10am: John Kenneth Paranada, Curator of Art and Climate Change, Sainsbury Centre, University of East Anglia
11am: Linsey Young, Curator of Women in Revolt! Art and Activism in the UK 1970–1990
12pm: Jon Uriarte, Curator of POV, Tabakalera, International Center of Contemporary Culture, San Sebastian
2pm: Lucia Pietroiusti, Head of Research & Emergence, Hartwig Art Foundation, Amsterdam
3pm: Aliyah Hasinah, Co-curator of The Past is Now, Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery
The discussion will consider how institutions address environmental crisis, digital transformation, contested histories, and evolving forms of public engagement, while testing new models of accountability and care. Participation is limited to encourage open exchange; pre-booking is essential.
Speakers
John Kenneth Paranada is the inaugural Curator of Art and Climate Change at the Sainsbury Centre, University of East Anglia, and a researcher at the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research. His practice situates museums as agents of climate action, bridging art, science, and policy.
Linsey Young is an independent curator and writer whose work foregrounds feminist and socially engaged exhibition-making. She curated Women in Revolt! Art and Activism in the UK 1970–1990, the first major institutional survey of feminist art in the UK, originally developed during her tenure at Tate.
Jon Uriarte is a curator, researcher, and educator addressing the impact of digital culture on photography and visual media. Formerly Digital Curator at The Photographers’ Gallery, London, he now curates POV at Tabakalera, San Sebastian, and has directed Getxophoto International Image Festival.
Lucia Pietroiusti is Head of Research & Emergence, Hartwig Art Foundation, Amsterdam. Until August 2025, she was Head of Ecologies at Serpentine, London, where she founded the General Ecology project. Her work spans art, ecology, and systems, including the Golden Lion–winning Sun & Sea (Venice Biennale, 2019) and the publications More-than-Human (
Aliyah Hasinah is a curator, writer, and filmmaker based in London. She co-curated The Past is Now at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, and develops projects centred on decolonial strategies, community, and care, including work with Eastside Projects and Ort Gallery.
