Juan Canela Barcelona

Juan Canela is a curator and art critic. He currently serves as Chief Curator of the Museum of Contemporary Art of Panama and as a member of the Advisory Committee of the Cader Institute of Central American Art at the Reina Sofía Museum. Recently, he curated the Projects section at Artbo Bogotá (2024), co-curated the 23rd Paiz Art Biennial in Guatemala (2023), and curated El Patio ABC in Baja California, Mexico (2023–2024).

Previously, he was Artistic Director of ZsONAMACO in Mexico City (2020–2023); Associate Curator at the Center for Artistic Residencies at Matadero Madrid (2020–2021); and Research and Symposium Associate for the osloBIENNALEN FIRST EDITION (2019–2020). He co-founded and co-directed the BAR project residency program in Barcelona (2012–2020) and was a member of the program committee at HANGAR Barcelona (2016–2019).

Canela has curated exhibitions and projects in museums, galleries, and institutions including the Museum of Modern Art of Medellín (MAMM); Fundación JUMEX, Mexico City; CA2M – Centro de Arte Dos de Mayo, Móstoles; TBA21, Madrid; CRAC Alsace, France; Artissima, Turin; the Centro Cultural de España and Casa Quien, Dominican Republic; Tabakalera, San Sebastián; SOMA, Mexico; and the Fundació Miró, Barcelona.