Mexican Curator Cuauhtémoc Medina Tapped for Guatemala's Bienal de Arte Paiz 25th Edition
Guatemala's Bienal de Arte Paiz has appointed Mexican curator Cuauhtémoc Medina to lead its 25th edition, set to run from November 2027 to February 2028 across Antigua and Guatemala City The Art Newspaper.
The edition carries particular weight: it coincides with the 50th anniversary of Fundación Paiz, the non-profit behind the event. Sonia Hurtarte, the foundation's executive director, announced the appointment.
Medina brings a curatorial résumé spanning three continents. Born in Mexico City in 1965, he has been a full-time researcher at the Instituto de Investigaciones Estéticas at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) since 1993. From 2002 to 2008, he served as Tate Modern's first associate curator of Latin American art collections — the London museum's earliest dedicated post for the region. He then spent more than a decade as chief curator at the Museo Universitario Arte Contemporáneo (MUAC) in Mexico City, from 2013 to 2024.
His biennial experience is broad. In 2012, Medina was head curator of Manifesta 9, the roving European biennial, held that year in Genk, Belgium, alongside co-curators Katerina Gregos and Dawn Ades. In 2018, he took the helm of the 12th Shanghai Biennale as its chief curator. He has also written and edited roughly 20 books on contemporary art. Medina holds a degree in History from UNAM and a PhD in History and Theory of Art.
The Bienal de Arte Paiz was founded in 1978, making it the sixth-oldest biennial in the world and the second-oldest in Latin America, behind only São Paulo's. For its first 15 editions, the event operated as a competition. In 2008, it shifted to a curated format — the model Medina will inherit.
Fundación Paiz has been expanding its institutional footprint alongside the biennial. During the 24th edition, the foundation opened the Centro Cultural Fundación Paiz within its Guatemala City headquarters. The new centre's doors opened to the public on 27 May 2026, with an inaugural exhibition of more than 50 works from the foundation's institutional collection, spanning five decades of acquisitions made between 1978 and 2026.
With a curator who has shaped biennials in Europe, Asia and the Americas, and a host institution hitting its half-century mark, the 25th edition will be one to watch as its programme takes shape over the coming year.
