International Curators coming to Backwater Artists Group
Backwater Artists Group are excited to announce that we will work with two International curators as part of our Artistic Programme for 2027.
The initial selection process will take place through the Backwater website.
Deniz Kirkali (UK/TURKEY) will curate a members group exhibition for The Punishment Block, Spike Island, in June 2027.
Deniz Kirkali is a curator and writer based between Istanbul and London. She holds an MA in Contemporary Art Theory at Goldsmiths, University of London and a BS in Media, Culture and Communication at New York University. She has co-founded topsoil, a transnational curatorial and research collective, and Garp Sessions, a summer programme in Babakale, Turkey. She was the curator of Reciprocity Muscles at Cala, Berlin, My Dear Friends at Depo, Istanbul and Make it Hot, Cool it Down, Turn it Over in London; and the assistant curator of the 10th BACA Award Exhibition at Bonnefantenmuseum, Maastricht, the Pavilion of Turkey at the 58th Venice Biennale, and BAHAR, the Istanbul offsite project of Sharjah Biennial 13. Her writings have been published in international magazines and platforms such as AQNB, Flash Art, this is tomorrow, Art Rabbit, We are Europe, Cogito, Art Unlimited and Manifold. She is the co-author of Otomy, published in 2022 by Onagore and winner of Volumes Book Award 2022. She has edited Fire Walk, an artist book by Ulgen Semerci and Burcu Yagcioglu, funded by the European Union. She is currently working as one of the editors of Garp Sessions Book, funded by SAHA. She is also currently doing her PhD in Advanced Practices at Goldsmiths, University of London.
Antonio Cervera Fontenla (SPAIN/CUBA/UK) will curate a members’ group exhibition in Studio 12, in November 2027.
Antonio Cervera is an independent curator, researcher, cultural strategist and member of ICOMOS (UNESCO) with more than twenty-two years of international experience in contemporary art, cultural heritage and institutional practice. Working across Spain, Cuba and the United Kingdom, he develops research-led exhibitions exploring identity, territory, memory and decolonial perspectives through collaborative and site-responsive methodologies.
He previously worked as Assistant Curator at Factoría Habana, part of the Office of the City Historian of Havana (Cuba), and Factoría Diseño, and has curated more than thirty exhibitions.
Recent international projects include serving as Guest Curator at IMAGO Lisboa Photo Festival, in collaboration with the Instituto Cervantes Lisbon (Portugal), where he curated The Memory of the Desert by Saleta Rosón; being selected through the international open call of Mostra Espanha, organised by the Ministry of Culture of Spain, to curate Tramas da Paisagem by Irene Trapote for the Museu da Terra, Miranda do Douro (Portugal); and receiving the Arte Casa Bardín Prize from the Instituto Alicantino de Cultura Juan Gil-Albert (Spain) for curating The Children of the Deer. The Return Home by José Luis Carrillo.
His research has been published in the book Tejiendo la Memoria (2024), alongside essays and specialist publications on contemporary art. He also teaches cultural project management at university level.