‘Curating Now’ is an ongoing program series that considers distinct curatorial forms of contemporary exhibition-making through critical case studies by Australian and international curators.
The third iteration welcomes Amanda Carneiro, co-Chief Curator of the forthcoming 37th Bienal de São Paulo, and Léuli Eshrāghi, a member of the Bienal’s curatorial team. The Bienal de São Paulo is the largest visual arts event in Latin America and one of the world’s longest-running international biennials.
Drawing on their respective practices, Carneiro and Eshrāghi consider collaborative curatorial methodologies grounded in relationships, listening, and an attention to the conditions that shape artistic practice. Carneiro will begin with a presentation sharing recent major projects, followed by a conversation with Eshrāghi reflecting on approaches to exhibition-making across different cultural, geographic, and institutional contexts.
Together, they ask: How can exhibitions develop through multiple curatorial voices, perspectives, and forms of knowledge? What kinds of relationships emerge between artists, curators, institutions, and place? And how might biennials operate as platforms for research, imagination, encounter, and meaningful engagement?
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Amanda Carneiro was born in São Paulo, where she currently lives. She has been a curator at the Museu de Arte de São Paulo Assis Chateaubriand (MASP) since 2018. She was an artistic organiser at the 60th International Art Exhibition of the Venice Biennale (2024)—Stranieri Ovunque – Foreigners Everywhere. At MASP, Carneiro has curated a wide range of exhibitions dedicated to modern and contemporary art, many of which were organised in partnership with national and international institutions, such as The Whitworth, the American Folk Art Museum, the Museo Universitario del Chopo, and Itaú Cultural.
Among Carneiro’s projects are solo exhibitions by Santiago Yahuarcani (2026); Hulda Guzmán (2025); Serigrafistas Queer (2024); Kang Seung Lee (2024); Beatriz Milhazes (2020–2021); Leonor Antunes (2019); and Sonia Gomes (2018). She has also co-organised exhibitions that have brought to light important 20th-century artists such as Abdias Nascimento (2022), Madalena Santos Reinbolt (2022), and Conceição dos Bugres (2021–2022), as well as group exhibitions such as Histórias brasileiras (2022). Carneiro holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees, and is a PhD candidate in social history at the Universidade de São Paulo. She is currently conducting research on the Second World Black and African Festival of Arts and Culture (FESTAC ’77). She was co-editor of the Afterall Journal, where she now serves on the editorial board, and, prior to joining MASP, worked at the Museu Afro Brasil Emanoel Araujo.
Léuli Eshrāghi (Sāmoa, Australia, Canada) is an artist, poet, and the curator of Indigenous practices responsible for expanding the Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal collection, initiating research, cultural mediation and exhibitions, and supporting relations with Indigenous nations. There they curated Kent Monkman: History is Painted by the Victors with John Lukavic (2025); Rising Suns: Art from the Confederacies of the Great Lakes and Rivers with Katsitsanoron Dumoulin Bush (2026); Glenn Gear: ulitsuak / marée montante / rising tide (2024–25); and ᐆᒻᒪᖁᑎᒃ uummaqutik: essence of life (since 2024), led by asinnajaq. Eshrāghi is part of the curatorial team organising the 37th Bienal de São Paulo.
Eshrāghi previously served as curator of TarraWarra Biennial 2023: ua usiusi faʻavaʻasavili which engaged with Majority World cultural renaissance and connections across Asia and the Great Ocean. They were also curator in residence at the University of Queensland Art Museum, where they co-designed ocean-centred exhibitions, residencies, and publications Oceanic Thinking, Mare Amoris / Sea of Love, How we remember tomorrow, and Blue Assembly with Peta Rake, Isabella Baker, and Jocelyn Flynn. They hold a PhD in curatorial practice from Monash University, a GradCert in Indigenous Arts Management from the University of Melbourne, and a BA in Indigenous and Francophone Studies from the University of Queensland.
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Amanda Carneiro and Léuli Eshrāghi’s research and travel is supported by the International Curators Program, which is funded by the Australian Government through Creative Australia, its principal arts investment and advisory body.
‘Curating Now’ is an ongoing programming series developed in partnership between UNSW Galleries and the Masters of Curating & Cultural Leadership program at UNSW Art & Design.
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