Cuauhtémoc Medina Appointed Curator of the 25th Bienal de Arte Paiz

Cuauhtémoc Medina Appointed Curator of the 25th Bienal de Arte Paiz

We are pleased to share the appointment of Cuauhtémoc Medina as curator of the 25th Bienal de Arte Paiz, which will take place from November 2027 to February 2028 across Guatemala City and Antigua Guatemala.

Organised by Fundación Paiz, the upcoming edition will mark a particularly significant moment in the history of the Bienal, coinciding with the 50th anniversary of Fundación Paiz and bringing the Bienal to its 25th edition.

Founded in 1978, the Bienal de Arte Paiz has developed alongside the changing cultural landscape of Guatemala and the wider region. Its first 15 editions followed an open competition model before the biennial moved towards a curatorial format in 2008. Since then, invited national and international curators have continued to develop its programme in dialogue with artists and cultural contexts from Guatemala, Latin America and beyond.

For its 25th edition, the Bienal welcomes Cuauhtémoc Medina, Mexican critic, curator and art historian whose practice spans academic research, museums and major international exhibitions. Since 1993, Medina has been a researcher at the Instituto de Investigaciones Estéticas at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM). Between 2002 and 2008, he was Tate Modern’s first Associate Curator of Latin American Art Collections, and from 2013 to 2024 he served as Chief Curator at the Museo Universitario Arte Contemporáneo (MUAC) in Mexico City.

His extensive experience with biennials includes serving as Head Curator of Manifesta 9 in Genk in 2012, in association with Katerina Gregos and Dawn Ades, and as Chief Curator of the 12th Shanghai Biennale in 2018. Alongside his curatorial work, Medina has written and edited extensively on contemporary art, with a particular engagement with artistic practices and critical perspectives emerging from Latin America and the Global South.

Speaking with Constanza Ontiveros Valdés for The Art Newspaper following the announcement of his appointment, Medina reflected on the particular position that the Bienal de Arte Paiz has developed within Latin American art:

“The Paiz Biennial is an event that those of us in Latin American art circuits follow closely, not only because of its longevity but also because of the important colleagues who have led it and the artists who have contributed memorable works.”

Medina also pointed to the Bienal’s scale and the commitment of Fundación Paiz and its team as conditions that have enabled it to test new ideas, while acknowledging the growing ambition of its recent editions.

In the same article, Sonia Hurtarte, Executive Director of Fundación Paiz and member of the IBA Board, reflected on the significance of reaching this anniversary and on the opportunity it presents to consider the future role of the Bienal:

“At 50, we are not interested in simply celebrating the biennial’s longevity. We want to question what a biennial can and should do today, particularly when it speaks from Guatemala and Central America to an international art world.”

Speaking to The Art Newspaper, Hurtarte also emphasised the intellectual rigour and curatorial independence that Medina brings to this process as the institution enters a new phase.

This question of how a biennial can operate simultaneously within its immediate context and an international field also emerges strongly from Medina’s conversation with The Art Newspaper. He described the task ahead as one of negotiating between “cosmopolitan relevance and localised effects”, while reflecting more broadly on the role biennials have played in decentralising the geography of contemporary art and creating opportunities for artistic production outside established institutional, cultural and market structures.

The appointment also comes at a moment of continued institutional development for Fundación Paiz. During the 24th edition of the Bienal, the organisation opened the Centro Cultural Fundación Paiz within its Guatemala City headquarters, establishing a permanent space where works from the Fundación’s collection of more than 300 pieces can be presented alongside temporary projects.

As an IBA member, Bienal de Arte Paiz has been an active part of our international network and its conversations around the changing role and responsibilities of biennials today. We therefore look forward to following the development of its 25th edition as Cuauhtémoc Medina and the team at Fundación Paiz commence their works towards this new edition.

Keep following the website and social media outlets of Bienal de Paiz as well as ours for future announcements and updates!