about

I am a Cypriot|German-Hungarian art curator, researcher, advisor and writer whose interests are grounded in curious, joyful and conscious experimentation with ideas, actions and projects through ecopedagogical, site-responsive, collective and collaborative configurations. My practice includes exhibition curating, (un) doing research, cultivating community-centred and socio-ecologically engaged art projects and public programming, crafting and leading workshops and learning environments, as well as advising artists, institutions and organisations. I also write about ecology, culture, pedagogy and  architecture and I am learning how to build systems rooted in making things with/for multispecies communities. Since 2024, I live in a small village in the mountains of Pafos in Cyprus, bridging my interests and capacities with site-specific and land-based needs. I am learning how to forage, collect rainwater, and grow food. 

studies 

My first degree was in History of Art (University of Glasgow, 2015) followed by several years of experience in various positions in the arts sector, including galleries, private collections, not-for-profit spaces, self-organised projects and international exhibitions. In 2021, I decided to ground my curatorial practice in political ecology, decolonial and posthumanist critical pedagogies, and socially-engaged artistic practices that work towards a just, socio-ecological transition. I returned to university for an MA in Education for Sustainable Development at the University of Gothenburg and a post-masters course in Collective Practices II: Symbiotic Organisations, at the Royal Institute of Art in Stockholm. 

(re) search 

At the intersection of these two study programs
I initiated a research project titled Systems, Pedagogies and Practices for Learning on a Damaged Planet, generously supported by the Kone Foundation. This practice-based research inquires into the ethical, onto-epistemological and practical aspects of cultivating and promoting an ecopedagogical praxis within and through collective artistic practices. At the same time, it inquires the limitations and possibilities of higher education and art institutional frameworks in implementing and permanently hosting ecopedagogical approaches, projects and programming. The research project unfolds in Cyprus, Italy, Sweden and Finland, while also being inspired by several collective efforts elsewhere. 

participation

Board member and Secretary of the Visual Artists and Art Theorists Association – phytorio (2024-2026). phytorio advocates and lobbies for fair policies for cultural workers; participates in the implementation of legislations concerning the arts, such as the “1% For Art”, and, creates public programming, exhibitions and publications.

Board member and advisor for Xarkis, an NGO founded in 2013 which promotes socio-ecological civic engagement, through artistic expression and practises of knowledge sharing and co-creation.

connect with me

︎ Learning in Becoming

︎  are.na 

︎  denise_ara@pm.me 

  Blue Sky