Chief Curator of MADC, San José.
Sofia Villena Araya
Art researcher, based in Costa Rica. Currently the Chief Curator of the Museum of Contemporary Art and Design (MADC) in San José. She holds a Master's degree in Contemporary Art Theory from Goldsmiths University and is a PhD student in Society and Culture Studies at the University of Costa Rica. She weaves together historical research, artistic experimentation, and pedagogy to address issues related to collective processes in contemporary art in the Central American region. Some of her most recent exhibitions include “Revocar” by Guatemalan artist Yavheni de León (2022), “Glossary for a Vegetable Government” by Costa Rican artist Christian Wedel (2023), “Domestic Territories” co-curated with Erika Martin at TEOR/éTica (2024), and “Encounters: Poetics of the Floor and Regeneration” at the MADC (2024-25). She is part of the transnational collective Topsoil (Amelie Wedel (Berlin) and Deniz Kirkali (Istanbul)). She has participated in international residencies, such as the Performance Reunión Festival, Honduras, 2023. Some of her most recent publications in edited books include “The Curatorial of the South” (2021) and “To Know/Unknow: Relational Pedagogies and Artistic Practices in Central America” (2022).