Carina Magazzeni's curatorial + artistic practice is rooted in critical collaboration. Her projects to date have emphasized curating as an act of care, valued relationships, and have been informed by methods of slowing down processes of witnessing. Her work is driven by queer, feminist and decolonial politics and strategies within and beyond gallery spaces. Drawing on archival research and playful interventionist strategies, Magazzeni designs projects that bring research-creation to the forefront and value the generative process of thinking/feeling/(un)doing just as much as the final work, itself.
Magazzeni (b. 1991, Welland, ON) is a femme settler of Italian-Scottish descent, born and raised in Onguiaahra/Niagara and currently based in Katarokwi/Kingston, Ontario, situated on Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabe territory. She is the Director of Union Gallery at Queen's University and maintains an independent curatorial practice. Recent and ongoing curatorial projects include more light than heat: Teresa Carlesimo with Michael DiRisio (Rodman Hall Art Centre, Brock University); Let's Talk About Sex, bb co-curated with Erin Sutherland (Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Queen's University); Sovereign Voices co-curated with Camille Georgeson-Usher, Sebastian De Line and Lisa C. Ravensbergen (Queen's University); Many Voices: Indigenous Art co-curated with Tania Willard (Bellevue House National Historic Site); and STANDING UP, SITTING IN, SOUNDING OUT: Cheryl L'Hirondelle co-curated with Ellyn Walker (Art & Media Lab). Magazzeni is a co-founding member of various artist collectives, including Small Potatoes Press, think tank, and The Hysterics Comedy Collective.
She was selected as the 2018 Curator-in-Residence, Curatorial Residency in Paris–Programme Ville de Paris aux Récollets–Fonderie Darling, Centre Culturel Canadien and the Curator-in-Residence with La Panacée at l'ESBA Montpellier Contemporain MoCo. In 2017, Magazzeni was awarded the Queen’s University Marty Memorial Scholarship to complete curatorial fellowship research for "Alternative Archives: Kingston’s Carceral Histories and Contemporary Realities." She holds an MA in Cultural Studies from Queen’s University, a Graduate Diploma in Event Management from Niagara College, and a BA Honours in History of Art and Visual Culture with a Concentration in Curatorial Studies from Brock University.
She was selected as the 2018 Curator-in-Residence, Curatorial Residency in Paris–Programme Ville de Paris aux Récollets–Fonderie Darling, Centre Culturel Canadien and the Curator-in-Residence with La Panacée at l'ESBA Montpellier Contemporain MoCo. In 2017, Magazzeni was awarded the Queen’s University Marty Memorial Scholarship to complete curatorial fellowship research for "Alternative Archives: Kingston’s Carceral Histories and Contemporary Realities." She holds an MA in Cultural Studies from Queen’s University, a Graduate Diploma in Event Management from Niagara College, and a BA Honours in History of Art and Visual Culture with a Concentration in Curatorial Studies from Brock University.