Curator Juan Canela
NEXT is a platform for emerging voices, spotlighting experimental artistic practices of the region.
Juan Canela (Spain, 1980)
He is the Chief Curator of the Museum of Contemporary Art of Panama and a member of the Advisory Committee of the Cader Institute of Central American Art at the Reina Sofía Museum. Recently, he has curated the Projects section at Artbo Bogotá (2024), co-curated the 23rd Paiz Art Biennial in Guatemala (2023), and curated El Patio ABC in Baja California, Mexico (2023–2024).
Previously, he served as the Artistic Director of ZsONAMACO in Mexico City (2020–2023); Associate Curator at the Center for Artistic Residencies at Matadero Madrid (2020–2021); and Research and Symposium Associate for the osloBIENNALEN FIRST EDITION (2019–2020).
He was the co-founder and co-director of the BAR project residency program in Barcelona (2012–2020) and was a member of the program committee at HANGAR Barcelona (2016–2019). He has curated projects in museums, galleries, and institutions such as MAMM Museum of Modern Art of Medellín; Fundación JUMEX, Mexico City; CA2M Centro de Arte Dos de Mayo, Móstoles; TBA-21 Madrid; CRAC Alsace, France; Artissima, Turin, Italy; Centro Cultural de España and Casa Quien, Dominican Republic; Tabakalera, San Sebastián; SOMA, Mexico; and Fundació Miró, Barcelona.
He has led workshops and given lectures at institutions such as Palais de Tokyo, Paris; Artpace, San Antonio; De Appel, Amsterdam; FLORA ars+natura, Bogotá; Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center, Ramallah; Bisagra, Lima; Instituto Di Tella, Buenos Aires; and La Casa Encendida, Madrid.
In 2020, alongside Elena Ketelsen Gonzalez and Carla Acevedo Yates, he organized Chotin: Curatorial Practices from Central America and the Caribbean, a program developed between MAC Panamá, MCA Chicago, and MoMA PS1.
He has written for specialized magazines and media such as A*Desk, Babelia (El País), Terremoto, Art-Agenda, Concreta, and Mousse Magazine. Together with Ángel Calvo, he co-authored the book Desde lo curatorial. Conversaciones, experiencias y afectos (2020), published by Consonni.