Laura Vallés Vílchez is a cultural worker operating at the intersection of editing, curating, writing, translation and education within the expanded field of visual arts.
Her academic research focuses on post-representational curating from an intersectional feminist perspective. In 2022, she obtained her PhD from the Royal College of Art in London, where she is currently based. There she teaches curatorial studies and in 2021 she was appointed Creative Director in the UK for the European project 4Cs: From Conflict to Conviviality through Creativity and Culture. In this context, she developed activities such as the exhibition Adam Khalil & Bayley Sweitzer with Oba: Nosferasta at Gasworks, curated by Sabel Galvaldon; the film programme Sensible Grounds: That's How We Undo It at LUX, curated by Azar Mahmoudian; as well as seminars and workshops. She also holds a Bachelor's Degree in Fine Arts and a Master's Degree in Photography, both degrees obtained from the Polytechnic University of Valencia.
Teaching / Research
Her journey into teaching began with a scholarship from the Botín Foundation, and she has since deepened her educational vocation as co-founder and director of Concreta, a non-profit organisation in Spain dedicated to the publication of an academic journal and a series of books since 2012. Concreta sits at the intersection of education and public discourse, and Laura’s experience in this field has been enriched by her work at institutions such as Afterall in London, a publishing project linked to Central Saint Martins, on which she collaborated in 2009, and the Museum of Contemporary Photography at Columbia College Chicago in 2010. In 2022, Laura co-designed Articulacions, an experimental educational programme at the IVAM in Valencia, in collaboration with the Universitat de València and the Universitat Politècnica de València.
She has also taught classes in the Master in Curatorial Studies at the University of Navarra, the Master in Practice and Theory in Contemporary Arts and Culture at the UPV EHU and the Master in Photography, Art and Technique at the Universitat Politècnica. She has given lectures at institutions such as the Institute of Contemporary Art and Social Thought at the China Art Academy in Hangzhou, the Royal Academy of Arts or SOAS in London, the University of Granada and the Universitat Politècnica de València, among others. She has also translated into Spanish works by influential authors such as Isabelle Stengers, Donna Haraway, Moyra Davey and Paul B. Preciado.
Professional experience
As a curator, Laura has organized several exhibitions including It Is Your Turn (EACC, 2018), 15,600 Days. Xisco Mensua (CCCC, 2019), Across the Sand (Azkuna Zentroa, Artium and CentroCentro, 2019-20), Myths of the Near Future Biennial (TEA, 2019-20), Teresa Lanceta: Weaving as an Open Source (MACBA-IVAM, 2022-23) and Larruak eta izurrak [Skins and Folds] (Tabakalera, 2024).
Awards
• Fellowship FHEA 2024
• SoAH RCA PhD 2022
• Komisario Berriak 2019
• Fundación Botín 2016-18
• Leonardo da Vinci 2007