About the part that art plays in a globalising society

Framer Framed

Mirjam Westen

Mirjam Westen

Mirjam Westen is a curator, critic and editor in the field of contemporary art, gender and global art. Her essays and reviews have been published in journals, art magazines and catalogues. For example Changing Perspective. Dealing with Globalisation in the Presentation and Collection of Contemporary Art (2012).

She curated numerous exhibition among which: rebelle. Art & Feminism 1969-2009 (Arnhem 2009),  A chacun sa grace. Femmes Artistes en Belgique et aux Pays-Bas 1500-1950 (Antwerp 1999-Arnhem 2000). Working as a senior curator of contemporary art in the Museum Arnhem (NL), she curated numerous exhibitions from 1991 to the present day, amongst others: Kara Walker (2002), Emily Jacir (2003), Lida Abdul (2006), Regina Galindo (2007), L.A. Raeven (2010), Berni Searle (2011), Heidi Sincuba (2011), Alicia Framis (2013),  Female Power (Arnhem 2013), Esiri Erheriene-Essi, Don’t Support the Greedy (2014) and the group show What we Have Overlooked at Framer Framed (Amsterdam, 2016). In 2014 and 2015 she curated the groups show Prospects & Concepts with work by young artists at Art Rotterdam (Van Nelle, Rotterdam).

In addition to her curatorial and writing activities, she gives lectures and is active in various professional network organizations.  She is member of AICA, ArtTable, M/Othjer Voices and the International Association of Curators of Contemporary Art (IKT). She is Chair of the Board of ArtTable Nederland, a network of professional women in the visual arts sector with expertise in various fields. She was one of the initiators of the ArtTable symposium Empowering Voices in the Art World (2021) dedicated to inclusivity and polyphony in the art world.


Exhibitions


Zanele Muholi - Miss D'vine I (2007), collectie Museum Arnhem

Exhibition: What We Have Overlooked

A collection presentation of Museum Arnhem, curated by Mirjam Westen

Agenda


Symposium: Empowering Voices in the Art World
Online symposium over diversiteit en inclusiviteit in de kunstwereld en in het bijzonder kunstinstellingen
Event: Farewell to the hermetic monoculture
Lecture by curator Mirjam Westen on the rol of art institutions in a rapidly changing global context.

Magazine