Mari Spirito

Profile

Mari Spirito is Executive Director and Curator of Protocinema, a cross-cultural, site-aware art organization commissioning and presenting exhibitions and public programs in Istanbul and New York since 2011. From 2013–2018 Spirito programmed Conversations for both Art Basel and Art Basel Miami Beach; served as International Advisory Committee Member for the Inaugural High Line Plinth Commissions, New York, 2017; was Curator and Director of Alt Art Space, Bomonti, Istanbul from 2015 to 2017; Advisor to the 2nd Mardin Biennial, Turkey, 2012; and Director of 303 Gallery New York, 2000–2012. She is on the Board of Participant, Inc, New York, and holds a BFA from Massachusetts College of Art, Boston.

Based in Istanbul and New York, Protocinema produces critical installations of the highest artistic quality and accessible to everyone. Protocinema evokes empathy towards understanding of difference across regions though: exhibitions, commissions, public programming, and mentorship. Founded in 2011 by Mari Spirito, Protocinema is a nonprofit 501(c)3, free of “brick and mortar,” and sites vary to respond both to global concerns and changing conditions on the ground.

(Image courtesy of M. Spirito)