Eugenio Viola

Since 2019, Dr. Eugenio Viola has served as Artistic Director of the Bogotá Museum of Modern Art (MAMBO). In this role, he has curated the first institutional exhibitions in Colombia for prominent artists, including Teresa Margolles, Voluspa Jarpa, Alexander Apóstol, Ana Gallardo, Naufus Ramírez-Figueroa, Kader Attia, Dor Guez and Seba Calfuqueo, among others.

Previously, he was the Senior Curator at the Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts (PICA) in Perth, Western Australia, from 2017 to 2019. During his tenure, he curated significant projects, including the first institutional exhibitions in Australia featuring artists Kimsooja and Cassils.

From 2009 to 2016, Viola held various curatorial positions at the MADRE Museum in Naples, Italy. There, he curated retrospective exhibitions of Vettor Pisani and Giulia Piscitelli, as well as the first institutional exhibitions in Italy of Boris Mikhailov and Francis Alÿs. He also worked on a complex, site-specific project by Daniel Buren.

Having curated over 100 exhibitions worldwide, Viola has collaborated with numerous international institutions and worked with prominent artists including Su Huy-Yu (MOCA- Taipei Museum of Contemporary Art, Taiwan, 2023), Giulia Cenci (Recoleta Cultural Center, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 2023), Regina José Galindo (PAC of Milan, Italty, 2014 / Frankfurter Kunstverein of Frankfurt, Germany, 2016), Karol Radziszewski (Znaki Czasu Contemporary Art Center of Torun, Poland, 2014), Mark Raidpere (Contemporary Art Museum of Tallinn, Estonia, 2013), Marina Abramović (PAC of Milán, Italy, 2012), Francesco Jodice (Zagreb Contemporary Art Museum, Croatia, 2011) and ORLAN (Saint-Etienne Museum of Modern Art, France, 2007).

Currently, he serves as the general curator for the 24th Arte Paiz Biennale in Guatemala, titled The World Tree, which is set to open in Guatemala City and Antigua Guatemala on November 6, 2025.

Viola curated the critically acclaimed Estonian Pavilion at the 56th Venice Biennale (2015) and the Italian Pavilion at the 59th Venice Biennale (2022).

He holds a Ph.D. in "Methods and Methodologies of Archaeological and Historical Art Research" and is a recognized authority on performance and bodily experiences. He has delivered numerous lectures on these subjects and has published many essays and articles. Notably he has edited monographs on artists including Mike Parr (Mambo Editions, Bogota, 2024), Teresa Margolles (MAMBO Edition, Bogota, 2019), Marina Abramović, (Sole 24 Ore Cultura, Milan, 2012), Regina José Galindo (Skira, Milan, 2014), and ORLAN (Ed. Charta, Milan- New York, 2007), among others.

Viola has edited over 60 catalogs and books and regularly contributes to publications such as the U.S. magazine "Artforum" and the Italian magazine "Arte". His writings have also appeared in "Flash Art", "Exit Express" and "Enciclopedia Treccani", as well as numerous other international journals.

He has delivered lectures at various academic and artistic institutions and frequently participates in panels and juries worldwide. He is a member of IKT (International Association of Curators of Contemporary Art) and CIMAM (International Committee for Museums and Collections of Modern Art).

He was recognized as the best Italian curator in 2016 and 2019 by the Italian art magazine Artribune. In 2014, British art magazine “Apollo” named him one of the most talented and inspirational young figures propelling the art world forward today. The iteration of the Estonian Pavilion at the 56th Venice Biennale, presented at the Museum of Occupations in Tallinn, Estonia, was listed by American magazine “Hyperallergic” among the top 15 exhibitions worldwide that year.