Manuel Cirauqui (b. 1978) is a curator and writer, working at the crossroads of contemporary art, design strategy, and experimental academia. He is the director of Eina/Idea, a think tank and programming platform within EINA.
Education and professional practice
Holding a degree in Philosophy from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, and after a period of independent research at EHESS (École de Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales) and INALCO (Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales) in Paris, he obtained a Masters degree in Esthetics and Contemporary Art Theory from Paris Nanterre University.
Cirauqui has served as curator at the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao since 2016, and is a collaborator of STARTS, an initiative of the European Commission to foster productive dialogue between science, technology, and the arts. In recent years, he has organized the major exhibitions Soto. The Fourth Dimension (2019); Architecture Effects (2018, co-curated with Troy Conrad Therrien); Henri Michaux. The Other Side (2018); Art and Space (2017); and Anni Albers. Touching Vision (2017) at the Guggenheim Bilbao, where he also oversees the institution’s Film & Video exhibitions programming.
Other curatorial projects include the two-part exhibition Artaud 1936 at the Museo Tamayo in Mexico City (2018), and the site-specific installation Puerto Rican Light (Cueva Vientos) by Allora & Calzadilla at Dia Art Foundation (2015, co-curated with Yasmil Raymond). Previously, Cirauqui worked as curator and exhibitions coordinator at Jeu de Paume and he was resident researcher at Institut de Recherche et d’Innovation / Centre Pompidou, in Paris. Simultaeously, he has produced a number of art radio programs, including §ympo§ium on WGXC (New York) between 2013 and 2016.
Teaching
Cirauqui has served as Adjunct Lecturer in Critical Curating at the Rhode Island School of Design, Providence. He has also been a guest lecturer and organized workshops at universities such as MICA Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore; HEAD Haute École d’art et de design, Geneva; Aalto University of Art and Design, Helsinki; University of the Basque Country, UPV/EHU; and Universidad Complutense de Madrid, among many others.
Publications
His research and critical writing have been published internationally, both in specialized media and periodicals, such as PAJ: A Journal of Art and Performance, Bomb, 20/27, Kaleidoscope, Frieze, among others. Cirauqui has also overseen the publication of a number of catalogues and companion publications to exhibitions, and has guest-authored a number of essays in modern and contemporary art books.
Bibliography
(Only the 5 most recent ones are listed)
- Soto. The Fourth Dimension. Madrid and Bilbao: La Fábrica and Guggenheim Bilbao Museoa, 2020
- Artaud 1936. Mexico City: Museo Tamayo, 2018
- Henri Michaux: el otro lado / Henri Michaux: beste aldea. Bilbao: Guggenheim Bilbao Museoa, 2018
- El arte y el espacio / Artea eta Espazioa. Bilbao: Guggenheim Bilbao Museoa, 2017
- Allora & Calzadilla, Puerto Rican Light (Cueva Vientos). New York: Dia Art Foundation, 2016