Join us for an afternoon talk with Canadian curator Riva Symko.
In this lecture, Symko provides an overview of her own professional practice in order to think through some of the broader curatorial shifts of the past decade and a half. She considers recent curatorial methodologies as a series of relationships that have moved from sites of knowledge, to practices of opportunity, to spaces of care.
Symko is a 2025 faculty member for Early Career Banff Artist in Residence (BAiR)—a transformative five-week residency that provides mentorship, critical feedback, and studio time to visual artists and curators in the early stages of their careers.
This event is part of the Visual Arts Open Lecture Series, which presents talks by leading Canadian and international artists, curators, and academics.
Visual Arts is supported by the Gail and Stephen A. Jarislowsky Outstanding Artist Program.
Related People
Riva Symko
Riva Symko (she/her), is a white settler from Treaty 6 Territory in Alberta. As the Head of Collections and Exhibitions, and Curator of Canadian Art at the Winnipeg Art Gallery-Qaumajuq, she is particularly committed to breaking down the historical hierarchies of the art world which positions women, Indigenous, and racialized persons as objects of consumption rather than as active cultural contributors. She has lived and worked across the continent – from Newfoundland to Alaska, holding posts with institutions such as the Kimura Gallery, University of Alberta Museums, [x]curated curatorial collective, and Modern Fuel Artist-Run Centre. Her current areas of critical and curatorial concern include gender equity, climate change, and anti-racist pedagogy and methodology.