THE JURY OF THE 20TH ARTE LAGUNA PRIZE

XIAOYU WENG
NEW YORK AND SINGAPORE – INDEPENDENT CURATOR, WRITER, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR OF TANOTO ART FOUNDATION, PART OF THE ARTISTIC BOARD TEAM FOR DOCUMENTA 16

Xiaoyu Weng – born in Shanghai – is currently based in New York where works as writer and curator, thanks to her extensive knowledge of the international art scene and a keen sense of new discourses in contemporary art. From institutional positions to independent projects, Weng has worked with many contemporary artists, collaborated with over 50 organizations to organize exhibitions and programs across all continents, and written and published numerous essays on contemporary art, visual culture, and curatorial practice.

Recently, she held the position of Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art and head of the department at the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) in Toronto, Canada. Previously, she was The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Associate Curator at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York. At the Guggenheim, Weng curated highly acclaimed exhibitions Tales of Our Time (2016–17) and One Hand Clapping (2018). In 2019, Weng served as the curator of the 5th Ural Industrial Biennial of Contemporary Art in Russia. She currently is program and collection advisor at the Asia Programs at Kadist Art Foundation, where she has worked also as director and curator. Her other recent projects include Miriam Cahn and Claudia Martínez Garay: Ten Thousand Things at Sifang Art Museu, Nanjing, China (2020); Neither Black / Red / Yellow Nor Woman at Times Art Center Berlin, Germany (2019); and Soft Crash at Galleria d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea di Bergamo, Italy (2016), among others.

ANASTASIA DAWSON
DUBAI – INDEPENDENT CURATOR AND ART ADVISOR

Anastasia Dawson is a multidisciplinary curator and art advisor with an extensive background in the art industry. A graduate of University of the Arts, Camberwell College of Arts, London, she was the founder of SM-ART Gallery in Moscow, Russia, where she successfully curated exhibitions and fostered relationships with both emerging and established artists. Through her deep expertise in fine art and market trends, Anastasia has advised collectors and clients on acquisitions, helping them navigate the evolving art world. In 2024, she curated AKNEYE’s Phygital Space by ftNFT at the Venice Biennale as an off-site project, furthering her work at the intersection of physical and digital art. As Head of Likeminded Art Department since 2022, she continues to support innovative artistic practices and nurture meaningful collaborations. In 2021, she also curated Who I Am Gallery’s OVR Miami exhibition. Anastasia’s career is driven by her passion for fostering artistic innovation and creating immersive experiences that engage diverse audiences. She is dedicated to advancing the art world through her curation, advisory work, and commitment to bridging the physical and digital realms.

JEMIMA KULUMBA
BELGIUM – CO-FOUNDER OF BIENNALE OF WOMEN IN ART (WIA), INDEPENDENT CURATOR, ART CONSULTANT

Jemima Kulumba is the co-founder of Biennale of Women In Art (WIA) whose aim is cultural mediation about gender equality in the art sector. She is also a cultural mediator, curator, and cultural event consultant. She has worked as an expert in Dakar (Senegal) Biennale of Dak’art, Mairie des Parcelles (SN), Festival Women designer, Brussels (BE) President of Jury and curator, Kinshasa (RDC) Jury and coordinated cultural event, Lille (FR), World Design Capital, Anvers (BE) Speaker for the university and research institute, Namur (BE) guest speaker for study day at Le Delta, Switzerland (CH) Advisory Board Fat Art Fair, Venice (IT) Artist manager and partner TTA, London (UK) artist management and co-coordination WIAF , Berlin (DE) partners and curator.For her contribution to promoting art and culture, she received multiple awards including The EU Benelux award, the Wyde Award, the Award of the mayor of Dakar and recently, finalists of the Elle Magazine Women of the year award (Culture category). She regularly collaborates with cultural institutions to promote artists, underrepresented artists and women artists. She has worked as curator of the Biennale of Children in Dakar. She also co-organised several art and cultural Festival in Kinshasa as a consultant, including the 100 years of the Kinshasa city with the Old Governors’ Children’s (non-political NGO). Jemima also worked as advisor to Alassane Cissé and the Senegalese Ministry of Culture for the DakArt Biennale. She is currently on several advisory boards, Wallonia Brussels Federation concerning women’s rights (BE), Fat Art Fair (Switzerland), Alassane Cissé Advisory board (Bamako, Dakar).

marionanni
ITALY – DESIGNER, WINNER OF COMPASSO D’ORO 2024 AND FOUNDER OF marionanni STUDIO WITH MUSEO VIRGOLA OF BOLOGNA

Guided by his philosophy progettarevocedelverboamare (“to design, voice of the verb to love”), in 1994 he founded, on his own, the company Viabizzuno, which he successfully led until the end of 2022. In 2023, he fully dedicated himself to his work and opened a workshop and atelier, marionanni studio, within the Museo Virgola, located in Bologna. In 2025, he founded the movement of the scrittoredellaluce, and the marionannischolé, where he serves as director. For over fifty years, marionanni has brought his expertise about light and his artisan professionalism to every creation. He has completed internationally renowned works such as the lighting of Michelangelo’s Moses in Rome, the Medici Tombs in Florence, and Casa Batlló in Barcelona. In 2024, he was awarded the Compasso d’Oro for the lamp Figaroqua Figarolà. Thanks to his innovative point of view and talent, marionanni was hosted at the Venice Biennale (three editions), the Triennale di Milano, and Villa Panza.
During his career, he successfully creted works that are now part of the collections of the Museo Marino Marini, the Quirinale in Rome, and the Villa Reale of Monza.

MICHAL NOVOTNÝ
CZECH REPUBLIC – DIRECTOR OF COLLECTION OF MODERN AND CONTEMPORARY ART AT THE NATIONAL GALLERY OF PRAGUE AND COMMISSIONER OF THE CZECH PAVILLION AT THE VENICE BIENNALE

Michal Novotný is the Director of the Collection of Modern and Contemporary Art at the National Gallery in Prague and comissioner of the Czech pavillion at the Venice Biennale. He teaches at the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague. He was director of the Centre for Contemporary Art FUTURA in Prague from 2011 to 2018.
From 2016–2018 he worked as concept dramaturg and external curator in the Plato City Gallery in Ostrava and has been an assistant professor at the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design since 2016. Among his recent projects there are the new collection exhibition 1939 – 2021: End of the Black-and-White Era (with Eva Skopalová and Adéla Janíčková, National gallery Prague, 2023) or the collaboration with Center Pompidou on the festival MOVE (National gallery Prague, Center Pompidou, Paris 2022).
He participated in research and residency stays within the projects titled NeMoskva (NCCA Moscow, BOZAR, Brussels, 2018), Trauma and Revival (BOZAR, Brussels, Pushkin Museum Moscow, 2017), Delfina Art Foundation London (2016), Contemporary Art Center New Orleans (2014), Independent Curators International New York (2011).

KOSTAS STASINOPOULOS
UK – CURATOR AT THE SERPENTINE GALLERY, LONDON AND WRITER

Kostas Stasinopoulos is a curator and writer. His current research focuses on performance, dance and film, informed by legacies of oppression, queer politics, ecology and the flux of identity across personal and collective registers. He is Curator, Live Programmes at Serpentine, London, looking after the institution’s interdisciplinary programme. He has served as Associate Curator at The Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center and has collaborated with the Whitechapel Gallery, White Cube, Frieze, Loop, Sadler’s Wells and the Athens Biennale among others. Kostas received his PhD in History of Art from University of York (2016), funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, the Onassis Foundation and NEON. He holds an MA in History of Art from the Courtauld Institute of Art (2010), MA in Cultural and Creative Industries from King’s College (2009) and BSc in Biochemistry with Management from Imperial College London (2007). His research and writing has appeared in numerous symposia and international publications and together with Hans Ulrich Obrist, Artistic Director, Serpentine, he is the co-editor of 140 Artists’ Ideas for Planet Earth (Penguin, 2021).

Photo credits: Talie Rose Eigeland.

EMILIANO VALDES
GUATEMALA – INDEPENDENT CURATOR AND STRATEGIC ARTS ADVISOR

He is currently an advisor to the Guatemalan Tourism Bureau as well as for Kadist (Paris/San Francisco) and other collections and is leading the Guatemalan pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai. He is also curating the Next section of Pinta Lima and is the artistic director of Pinta Art Week Panama in their 2025 editions. For a decade (2014–2024), he was Chief Curator of the Medellín Museum of Modern Art (MAMM) where he helped steer the institution through a period of deep growth and transformation which positioned it as one of the leading institutions in Latin America. Previously, he was Associate Curator for the 10th Gwangju Biennale and Co-Director of Proyectos Ultravioleta, then an independent space in Guatemala City. In 2012, Valdés was the CPPC Curatorial Fellow at dOCUMENTA(13) (Kassel), and from 2009 to 2012, he was Curator/Head of Visual Arts at the Centro Cultural de España in Guatemala City. Valdés has also worked for institutions such as the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid, and contemporary Magazines, London. He is interested in the intersection between art, craft, communities and urban processes with an attention for environmental and spiritual practices.