Joel Valabrega appointed Head of Programmes and Curator

Galeria Municipal do Porto is pleased to announce Joel Valabrega as Head of Programmes and Curator. Previously Curator of Performance and Moving Image at Mudam—Museum of Modern Art, Luxembourg (2020–24), in 2024 Valabrega curated the Luxembourg Pavilion at the 60th International Venice Biennale and is currently working on the Present Future section of Artissima Art Fair (Nov 2024). Recent projects include the experimental exhibition Workers in Song by Billy Bultheel & James Richards (2024), the performative group exhibition After Laughter Comes Tears (2023) and the performance festival The Illusion of the End (2022).

Valabrega has previously run the project space MEGA in Milan (2016–22), worked as a visiting curator at the V-A-C Foundation in Moscow and Venice (2018–19) and was part of the curatorial team of Triennale Milano (2020). Curatorial projects such as exhibitions, performance programmes and commissions include collaborations with artists such as Tarek Atoui, Alexandra Bachzetsis, Cecilia Bengolea, Ari Benjamin Meyers, Pauline Boudry & Renate Lorenz, Darius Dolatyari-Dolatdoust, Lara Favaretto, Trajal Harrell, Ligia Lewis, Eliane Radigue and Nora Turato, among others. She edited After Laughter Comes Tears (Lenz Press, 2023), Tarek Atoui: Waters’ Witness #02 (Mudam/Les presses du reel, 2022), the artist book form is void void is color (2020) and contributes regularly to exhibition catalogues and magazines.

As Head of Programmes and Curator of Galeria Municipal do Porto, Valabrega is responsible for curating and coordinating exhibitions, special projects and public programmes, in close dialogue with GMP’s Artistic Director. She will also be responsible for coordinating institution’s artistic team and editorial projects.

“Galeria Municipal is a vibrant incubator of collaborative research and artistic production, placing artists and an openness to different forms of knowledge at its core. I have great faith in this kind of engagement and institutional approach, which encourages critical discourse and creates environments about and for art that I believe to be conducive to meaningful communication, action and change. In these uncertain times, art and culture play a vital role in shaping spaces for connection, reflection and empowerment. I am thrilled to join an institution whose vision speaks to the challenges facing us in the art world and beyond. I look forward to contributing to curating exhibitions and performances, planning events and building educational programmes that inspire artists and audiences alike to contribute to this vision”, says Valabrega.

“Joel Valabrega is an accomplished curator with an impressive track record of groundbreaking projects and international partnerships. We are thrilled to have her as part of our team, enhancing our expertise and international reach”, states João Laia, Artistic Director of the Contemporary Art Department of Porto and Galeria Municipal do Porto.

Galeria Municipal do Porto embraces cross-disciplinary aural, discursive, learning, moving image, performative, sculptural and visual practices, exploring 21st Century arts and culture. GMP’s programme tackles compelling questions defining the present and the near future to engage a wide set of dedicated expert and general audiences. Since relaunching its institutional mission in 2014, Galeria Municipal do Porto collaborates with local, national and international partners. It is part of the Contemporary Art Department of Ágora - Cultura e Desporto do Porto, E.M.

Galeria Municipal do Porto and all its activities have free admission.