Camilla Boemio | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1974 (age 50–51) Italy |
| Occupations | Art critic, curator, theorist |
| Known for | Interdisciplinary curatorial practice, Venice Biennale projects |
| Notable work | Deputy curator, Maldives Pavilion, 55th Venice Biennale (2013); Curator, Nigerian Pavilion, 15th Venice Biennale of Architecture (2016); Co-associate curator, Pera + Flora + Fauna, 59th Venice Biennale (2022) |
| Website | Intellect Books profile |
Camilla Boemio (born 1974) [1] is an Italian art critic, curator, and theorist based in Rome. She is known for her interdisciplinary curatorial practice, which has included projects at the Venice Biennale such as co-associate curator of Pera + Flora + Fauna at the 59th Venice Biennale (2022) [2] and curator of the first Nigerian Pavilion at the 15th Venice Biennale of Architecture (2016). [3] Boemio has edited and authored several books on contemporary art [4] and has contributed to publications on art and sustainability. [5] She is a member of the International Association of Art Critics (AICA) and the International Association of Curators of Contemporary Art (IKT). [4]
Boemio's curatorial practice investigates the politics of participation in contemporary aesthetics, combining approaches that merge exhibitions, politics, fiction, display, public space, and writing. [4] Her work has been influenced by Harald Szeemann, Eugenio Battisti, Lea Vergine, Adrian Parr, and Jane Jacobs. [6]
Boemio has had a long-term involvement with the Venice Biennale program. In 2013, she served as deputy curator of the Maldives Pavilion at the 55th Venice Biennale, titled "Portable Nation: Disappearance as Work in Progress – Approaches to Ecological Romanticism." [4]
In 2016, she curated "Diminished Capacity," the first Nigerian Pavilion at the 15th Venice Biennale of Architecture, featuring architect and artist Ola-Dele Kuku. [3]
Boemio was co-associate curator, alongside Amir Zainorin, of Pera + Flora + Fauna: The Story of Indigenousness and The Ownership of History, an official collateral event at the 59th Venice Biennale, 2022. [2]
Beyond her Venice Biennale projects, Boemio has curated exhibitions internationally. In 2011, she curated Cities, a group show at the Torrance Art Museum in California, and later participated in the TRYST Alternative Art Fair at the same museum with AAC Platform, an artist-run, non-commercial fair featuring international collectives. [7] [8] In 2015, she curated Iconic Geography, an exhibition of images by the photography duo Andreana Scanderbeg and Alexander Sauer at Anteprima D'Arte Contemporanea in Rome. [9]
In 2017, Boemio curated Delivering Obsolescence: Art Bank, Data Bank, Food Bank, a Special Project at the 5th Odessa Biennale of Contemporary Art in Ukraine, featuring artists David Goldenberg and Fabio Lattanzi Antinori. [10] That same year, she curated Knock, Knock, Knocking, a site-specific installation by Lanfranco Aceti in the Mediterranean Garden Pavilion on the New Sea Waterfront of Thessaloniki, supported by the Museum of Contemporary Cuts. [7]
In 2024, Boemio co-curated (with AAC Platform) The Bouvet Island, a site-specific installation by Stefano Cagol at the National Etruscan Museum of Villa Giulia in Rome. The work, installed in the museum's sixteenth-century courtyard, addressed themes of ecological concern and humanity's relationship with nature. [11] That same year, she curated TEN YEARS: BSR People 14–24, a photographic exhibition by Antonio Palmieri at the British School at Rome. [12]
Boemio has curated numerous exhibitions at AOC F58 – Galleria Bruno Lisi, an artist-run nonprofit space in Rome. These include solo exhibitions by American painter Marc Trujillo (FAST, 2020, his first European exhibition), [13] American photographer Peter Ydeen (Easton Nights, 2021), [14] British photographer Matthew Smith (Ascension, 2023), [15] Italian-Brazilian artist Zoè Gruni (Fromoso, 2023), [16] and American conceptual artist Ron Laboray (Pretty Power, 2024). [17]
Boemio has edited and authored several books on contemporary art. As Brilliant As the Sun (Vanillaedizioni, 2020) explores artistic practices in California and Rome, examining connections between the two art scenes. [18] The Edge of Equilibrium (Vanillaedizioni, 2021) brings together artists, academics, and activists to examine art communities and alternative, ecologically sustainable ways of living. [19] [20]
She contributed an essay on artist Maria Rebecca Ballestra to ROAR (art.earth, 2019), a publication edited by Rosanna Greaves and Marina Velez that explores how artistic and aesthetic strategies address notions of sustainability. [5]
Boemio is a contributor to The Dreaming Machine, an online arts and literature publication, where she regularly interviews contemporary artists. [21]
Boemio's curatorial practice engages with interdisciplinary systems and critical theory from an intersectional feminist perspective, with particular attention to gender, the body, and social systems. [22] Her work often highlights issues of identity, diaspora, forced colonization, and ecological concerns as reflected in exhibitions she has curated and the artists she has worked with. [22]
Boemio has participated in lectures, talks, and panel discussions at international art institutions and universities. She has presented on topics such as curatorial research, feminist methodologies, and interdisciplinary approaches to contemporary art. [6]
She has delivered talks and presentations in programs organized by MOSTYN (Wales), the AAC Platform in Rome, and international art symposia associated with biennials and research platforms. [22]
Boemio is a member of the International Association of Art Critics (AICA) and the International Association of Curators of Contemporary Art (IKT). [4] [23]
She co-founded and directed the AAC Platform in Rome and serves as a curator with Artist Pension Trust. [4]