Maayan Sheleff () is an independent art curator and researcher based in Tel Aviv, Israel. Her projects explore social and political issues through participatory practices, at the intersection of art and technology. Sheleff holds a Ph.D. in Practice in Curating in a joint program of the Department of Art at the University of Reading and the postgraduate program in Curating at the Zurich University of the Arts.
Biography Sheleff was raised in Kiryat Ono, Israel. She studied plastic arts at the Thelma Yellin High School of Arts, Givatayim. Sheleff graduated Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design with a B.Des in industrial design, also studying at the Rhode Island School of Design and Politecnico di Milano. She later pursued postgraduate studies at the Interdisciplinary Arts Program, Tel Aviv University. She received her PhD from the Curatorial Platform in Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK) and Reading University, UK.Maayan Sheleff, Echoing with a Difference––Curating Voices and the Politics of Participation, at the page of the PhD in Contemporary Curating program, ZHdK website Sheleff has been regularly teaching at the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design, department of photography, the International Curatorial Studies Program of the Kibbutzim College, Tel Aviv, at the Sam Spiegel Film and Television School, Jerusalem and at Sapir Academic College, Sderot. She has been a guest lecturer in many institutions such as HaMidrasha – Faculty of the Arts, and the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology's Division of Continuing Education and External Studies curating program.
Curatorial positions 2014– Artistic Advisor and chair of artistic committee at the Art Cube Artists' Studios, Jerusalem and curator of its international residency program, LowRes JerusalemMembers of artistic committee, Art Cube Artists' Studios, JerusalemLowRes Jerusalem international residency program, Art Cube Artists' Studios Jerusalem website 2009–2012 – Curator at the Center for Contemporary Art (CCA), Tel Aviv 2009–2012 – Assistant Director at the International Curatorial Studies Program of the Kibbutzim College and the CCA Tel Aviv 2006–2009 – Director and chief curator of Line 16, a public gallery for contemporary art תערוכה חדשה בגלריה קו 16 (New exhibition at the Line 16 Gallery), City Mouse, 9 April 2006
Awards, grants and residencies 2015 – International Curatorial Retreat, organized by Vessel/Mada, Bari, ItalyICR 2015 – selected curators, Vessel website 2014 – Residency Unlimited, NYC2014 | NYC | Curator: Maayan Sheleff, Residency Unlimited website 2014 – Quartier 21, Vienna, invited by Paraflows Festival for Digital Art 2012 – Truth is Concrete, Steirischer Herbst Festival, Graz, Austria 2012–2013 – Artport residency, Tel Aviv 2012 – Artis grant recipient 2012 – International Studio & Curatorial Program (ISCP) Curator Award 2010 – Independent Curators International (ICI) Curatorial Intensive, New York City 2010 – Artis grant recipientMaayan Sheleff grantee page at the Artis website
Selected exhibitions 2027 – School of Listening, ZKM Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe, Karlsruhe, Germany (co-curated with , in collaboration with Mira Hirtz and Philipp Ziegler) 2025 – Resounding Voice, a solo exhibition by Netta Weiser, Mamuta Art and Research Center, Hansen House, Jerusalem (co-curated with Lea Mauas). 2025 – Lundqvist, a solo exhibition by Naama Mokady, and Sonic Memory, a solo exhibition by Eitan Haviv, Mamuta Art and Research Center, Hansen House, Jerusalem. 2024 – School of Listening: (Im)possible Conversations, Museum der Moderne Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria (co-curated with Christina Penetsdorfer). Participating artists included , , , Samira Saraya, , , Joan Jonas, and Peter Tscherkassky. 2024 – ’73–’23: Video Salon Between Two Wars, a fifty-work video anthology initiated by , presented at the Negev Museum of Art and the Tel Aviv Museum of Art (co-curated with Milana Gitzin-Adiram and Shahar Ben-Nun). Participating artists included Yael Bartana, Guy Ben-Ner, , Sigalit Landau, Ruth Patir, Nira Pereg, David Perlov, and Micha Ullman. 2023 – Voice Over #2, a performative gathering at the KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin. Participating artists included Effi and Amir, Brandon LaBelle, Sunny Pfalzer with Lau Lukkarila and Slim Soledad, Public Movement, and Netta Weiser with Mădălina Dan and Agata Siniarska. 2021 – M/otherLand, a solo exhibition by Ruth Patir, OnCurating Project Space, Zürich, Switzerland. 2021 – InConcrete Stones, Art Cube Artists' Studios, Jerusalem. Participating artists were Hannan Abu-Hussein, Nikolaus Eckhard, Christoph Weber, , and Avner Pinchover. 2020 – Voice Over, Bonnefantenmuseum, Maastricht, the Netherlands. Participating artists included Basel Abbas and Ruanne Abou-Rahme, Lawrence Abu Hamdan, Yusra Abu Kaf, Effi and Amir, Shilpa Gupta, Katarina Zdjelar, Domenico Mangano and Marieke van Rooy, and Amir Yatziv. 2019 – Grand Kenyon, a two-person exhibition by and Guy Königstein, Art Cube Artists' Studios, Jerusalem. 2018 – (Un)Commoning Voices and (Non)Communal Bodies, Zurich University of the Arts and Tanzhaus Zürich, Switzerland, followed by Reading International, Reading, United Kingdom (co-curated with Sarah Spies). Participating artists included Zbyněk Baladrán, Željka Blakšić, Marco Godoy, Chto Delat and Dmitry Vilensky, Noam Enbar and Nir Shauloff, Jamila Johnson-Small and Fernanda Muñoz-Newsome, Mikhail Karikis, Tali Keren, Public Movement, Michal Oppenheim, Rory Pilgrim, Jack Tan, Nina Wakeford, and Katarina Zdjelar. 2018 – Rendering Borders, an exhibition by Morehshin Allahyari and , Art Cube Artists' Studios, Jerusalem. 2017 – Poland ↔ Israel, Museum of Contemporary Art in Kraków (co-curated with Agnieszka Sachar, in collaboration with Miri Segal)Poland ↔ Israel exhibition page, Museum of Contemporary Art in Kraków website, 30.06.2017–24 September 2017 2015 – Preaching to the Choir, Herzliya Museum of Contemporary ArtPreaching to the Choir exhibition page, Herzliya Museum of Contemporary Art website 2014 – The Infiltrators, The Infiltrators exhibition website 2013 – The Promised Land, The Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, Tokyo, JapanThe Promised Land exhibition page, The Embassy of Israel in Japan website 2012 – Other Lives, Bloomfield Science Museum, Jerusalem, a new-media exhibition inspired by scientist Allan TuringOther Lives exhibition page, Bloomfield Science Museum website 2012 – Secondary Witness, International Studio & Curatorial Program, Brooklyn, New York CitySecondary Witness exhibition page, International Studio & Curatorial Program website 2012 – Connected, An Exhibition About Girls and the Internet, Bat Yam Promenade 2012 – Prolonged Exposure, The Center for Contemporary Art (CCA), Tel AvivProlonged Exposure exhibition page, CCA Tel Aviv website 2009–2010 – Co-curator, Transit project, cooperation between The Center for Contemporary Art (CCA), Tel Aviv and MADRE, Naples, ItalyTransit project page, CCA Tel Aviv website 2009 – Co-curator, ARTLV – the 1st Tel Aviv-Yafo Biennial
Selected publications
2022 – InConcrete Stones, participating artists: Hannan Abu-Hussein, Nikolaus Eckhard, Avner Pinchover, Christoph Weber, Arkadi Zaides, Art Cube Artists' Studios, Jerusalem 2021 – M/otherland, Ruth Patir & Maayan Sheleff, OnCurating, Zurich. 2019 – (Un)Commoning Voices and (Non)Communal Bodies, Maayan Sheleff & Sarah Spies (Eds.), OnCurating, Zurich. 2019 – Grand Kenyon, participating artists: , Guy Konigstein, Art Cube Artists' Studios, Jerusalem. 2018 – Rendering Borders, participating artists: Morehshin Allahyari, Lior Zalmanson, Art Cube Artists' Studios, Jerusalem. 2017 – Fear and Love in Graz: Steirischer Herbst’s Truth Is Concrete (2012), in Empty Stages, Crowded Flats – Performativity as Curatorial Strategy – Performing Urgency #4, and Janna Warsza (Eds.), 2017 – "Jerusalem of Gold" vs. "The Yelllow Fleet" & "The Day When Nothing Happened", Art Cube Artists' Studios, Jerusalem. 2017 – 50 Years, B'Tselem 2016 – »The Infiltrators« – Crossing Borders with Participatory Art, in Geflüchtete und Kulturelle Bildung Formate und Konzepte für ein neues Praxisfeld, Maren Ziese & Caroline Gritschke (Ed.), , Bielefeld. 2016 – The Chosen People - A Small Guide For a Big Revolution, a conversation with Andy Bichlbaum from The Yes Men, Tohu online magazine 2014 – The Infiltrators, 2012 – Secondary Witness, International Studio & Curatorial Program (ISCP). 2012 – World Order, Dana Levy, Braverman Gallery and CCA Tel Aviv.
External links Maayan Sheleff at the Independent Curators International website Frankie the Documentation Robot website, a project by Maayan Sheleff, Gal Eshel and Eran Hadas
Further reading The Infiltrators: Crossing borders with participatory art by Maayan Sheleff in: Gritschke, Caroline, and Maren Ziese. 2016. Geflüchtete und kulturelle Bildung Formate und Konzepte für ein neues Praxisfeld. Pp 123–130. Bielefeld: transcript. Fear and Love in Graz by Maayan Sheleff in: Florian Malzacher and Janna Warsza (ed.), 2017. Empty Stages, Crowded Flats. Performativity as Curatorial Strategy, Performing Urgency No. 4, Berlin: House on Fire, Live Art Development Agency & Alexander Verlag.
References