MAGDA GURULI
Director - Curator
Magda Guruli is a curator of contemporary art based in Tbilisi, Georgia. Over her two-decade career, she has curated various local and international projects. She founded and curated Artisterium, the Tbilisi International Contemporary Art Exhibition, and Art Events since 2008. Notable exhibitions include group showcases of Georgian art at the National Center of Contemporary Art in Moscow (2006), Siemens Art Gallery in Istanbul (2007), and the Fine Art Museum of Nantes (2008). Her curatorial practice includes events like "Jump into the Unknown" within the official collateral projects of the 56th Venice Biennale (2015), "Taste of Tea", a parallel project of the 15th International Istanbul Biennale (2017), and "Beyond the Horizon”, Casa ContemporaÌ‚nea, a parallel project of the 33rd Sao Paulo Biennale (2018).
In 2014, she was an invited art advisor from the South Caucasus for the exhibition "Neighbors – Contemporary Narratives from Turkey and Beyond" in Istanbul Modern. In 2017 she co-curated "Illegal Kosmonavtika," winner of New York's Apexart's Franchise Program. Magda has participated in conferences, workshops, and symposiums across several countries, including Turkey, Korea, Ireland, Switzerland, Poland, Mexico, Sweden, Greece, and Germany.
She held editorial roles in various Georgian and international art publications, such as ARTLOOP (2005-2009), the South Caucasian art magazine CORD, (2007), and the art newspaper “Revolver” (2016 – 2017). Her bibliography includes articles on contemporary art and numerous text and catalog entries for exhibitions such as "Jump into the Unknown" at the 59th International Art Exhibition – la Biennale di Venezia (2015), “In Search of Flying Carpet, Pictures from a Caucasian Album”, for the catalog: “Neighbors – Contemporary Narratives from Turkey and Beyond”, Istanbul Modern (2014), “Creative act of self-denial”, for the catalog, “Critique and Crisis”, German History Museum, Berlin (2012), “Cooperation in Contemporary Arts in the Caucasus”, the publication “Emerging Cultural Continent: Actors and Networks”, Istanbul Bilgi University (2007).
Presently she works as a contemporary art consultant at the Georgian National Museum, Shalva Amiranashvili Museum of Fine Arts. As of 2024 she is co-director and curator at Zema Contemporary. She divides her time between europe, Georgia and South Korea. Since 2022, Magda Guruli has been a commissioner of the National Pavilion of Georgia at the Venice Art and Architecture Biennale.