Belfast Exposed Curatorial Award

Belfast Exposed Futures Curator Award is part of the Futures programme that supports emerging talent in the visual arts.

This year, we are excited to expand our support for emerging artistic talent with the new Futures Curator Award, a scheme that will provide support, mentorship & financial backing to a group of emerging curators in the visual arts.

Curators play a vital role in the success of all forms of art and it is Belfast Exposed’s ambition to increase the support we provide to emerging curators. Through the Award, we have the ideal platform to do this while bringing an ever more diverse range of art to our audiences.

After a highly competitive selection process that began in August 2022, the following individuals have been selected as the first group of Awardees:

Rachel Botha, Sara Dowling, Vera Hadzhiyska, Siobhán Kelly, Rosalind Murray, Grace O’Boyle.

Each Awardee will curate an exhibition at Belfast Exposed with an artist or group of artists of their choosing. Belfast Exposed will support each curator, as well as funding and promoting each show, allowing the Awardees creative freedom to present the work of their collaborating artist.

The first Award show will be ‘Nothing But A Curtain‘, the work of photographer Zula Rabikowska, curated by Vera Hadzhiyska, running from Thursday 2nd of February to Saturday 25th March 2023 in Gallery II.

Deirdre Robb, Director of Belfast Exposed said:

‘It is important that early career curators are given new opportunities, as they play a key function in galleries & museums. It is essential that, when emerging onto a scene, they have the support & mentoring needed to help them flourish. In addition, this programme will also support the range of early-career artists featured in each exhibition’.