Hesperia Iliadou-Suppiej: History and Contemporary Landscapes of Curating

Who decides what curating history is? How do biennales respond to local histories? Join host Maria Cynkier in the conversation with Hesperia Iliadou-Suppiej, an award-winning curator and museum consultant. Learn about exhibition histories and their importance to contemporary practices from Hesperia Iliadou-Suppiej who shares her favourite shows and demystifies the workings of global biennales. 

This podcast is brought to you by Call for Curators, providing professional art opportunities since 2012, and Node Center for Curatorial Studies, the pioneering e-learning platform for curators and art professionals founded in 2009. 

Meet our guest, Hesperia Iliadou-Suppiej lives and works in Venice, as an academic specialised in museum and curatorial studies. She is an award-winning curator and museum consultant, currently a member of the international museum specialists’ committee for the creation of the new National Contemporary Art Museum in Prague.  She made part of the Abu Dhabi National Museums (Louvre & Guggenheim) Curatorial Programme, conducting master classes for their staff on curating, curatorial narratives, and expanding exhibitions through public programming. Hesperia was the Curator of the Malta National Pavilion at the Venice Art Biennale of 2019 and Curator of the Inaugural Exhibition for the European Capital of Culture, Paphos 2017. She acted as deputy Commissioner for the Venice Biennale, the Cyprus National Pavilion in 2014, and 2016 and collaborator for the Greek National Pavilion in 2021. Her research focuses on decolonial, inclusive and conflict transformation practices in Museum curating with a special interest in the artistic and cultural practices of the Mediterranean region. She is currently the elected curator for the VCU 25th anniversary exhibition in Qatar.

Our host ⁠Maria Cynkier⁠ is an independent curator and researcher working in the fields of art, ecology and digital culture. In her practice, she is concerned with the social, political and material impacts of new technologies on humans, non-humans and the environment. She often works within the framework of speculative storytelling and worldbuilding tactics that enable critical dialogue.

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Audio editing by Maria Cynkier. 

Intro music by Dan Carr.