Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev
Honory Guest Professor and external mentor
From 2009 to 2013, curator, researcher, and scholar Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev was the artistic director of dOCUMENTA (13), which took place in 2012 in Kassel, Germany, as well as in Afghanistan, Egypt, and Canada. She was chief curator of the Castello di Rivoli (2002 – 2009) and then director (2016 – 2023) following her tenure as senior curator at P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center (now MOMA PS1) in New York (1999 – 2001).
Christov-Bakargiev has curated numerous exhibitions including the 16th Biennale of Sydney (2008), the 15th Istanbul Biennial (2015), and Arte Povera at the Bourse de Commerce in Paris (2024 – 2025), which explored the roots, development, and global legacy of the Italian movement. She is the author of over 100 books, catalogues, and essays including Arte Povera (Phaidon Press, 1999), William Kentridge (Palais des Beaux Arts, Bruxelles, 1998), a recent analysis of Bracha L. Ettinger’s work for Bracha Lichtenberg Ettinger (Skira, 2025), and a recent essay for Nalini Malani: Of Woman Born (2026).
Christov-Bakargiev has lectured widely and has taught at the University of Leeds and Northwestern University. Since 2022 she has been honorary guest professor at Institute Art Gender Nature HGK Basel FHNW. Currently she is researching the topic of artistic freedom, corporeality and transcendence in aesthetics in the digital era.
Photo: Rainer Hosch