Raul Moarquech Ferrera-Balanquet

Havana, Cuba, 1958.
PhD, Duke University, 2016. MFA, University of Iowa, 1992.
Interdisciplinary Artist, Writer, Curator, and Fulbright Scholar.
Member of the Mariel Generation.

Ferrera-Balanquet is the author of the books Aestesis Decolonial Transmoderna Latinx_MX (2019) and Imaginarios Creativos y Soberania Erotica Decolonial (2018), and has edited the critical anthology Andar Erotico Decolonial (2015), Ediciones del Signo, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Co-Executive Director, Howard University Gallery of Art.

Ferrera-Balanquet has exhibited at 2025 Black History Month, American Academy in Rome, Italy; Haceres Decoloniales, Galeria ASAB, Bogota, Colombia; BE.BOP, Ballhaus Naunynstraße, Berlin, Germany; (De)Encounters and The Weaving of Relational Memories in the MeXicanx_Latinx Territories (1987-2017), LACE, Los Angeles, California; the Queens Museum of Art, New York; the Nasher Museum, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina; Museum of Latin American Art, Long Beach, California; Zentral Bibliothek, Zurich, Switzerland; Fundacion de Arte Contemporaneo, Montevideo, Uruguay; 33ro Festival Internacional Cervantino, Leon, Mexico; Exit Art Gallery, New York City; Alchemy Projects, 2000 MAAP Festival, Brisbane, Australia; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Randolph Street Gallery, Chicago; Video IN, Vancouver B.C., Canada; Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; Centro de Cultura Contemporanea, Barcelona, Spain among others.

His writings have been published in rumi roaming, Subversive Press and Guernica Editions, Toronto, Canada; CAMINO REAL, Estudios de las Hispanidades Norteamericanas / Queer Corazon: Theorizing Love, Sex, and the Body. Volume 15, Issue 18, Editorial de la Universidad de Alcala, Spain; Latino Book Review 2022, USA; Aztlan: Journal of Chicano Studies, Vol. 44, No. 2, Fall, Chicano Studies Research Center, UCLA, Los Angeles, California; Sisters in the Life: A History of African American Lesbian Media- Making, Duke University Press, Durham, North Carolina, USA; Interrogando los límites del texto. Ensayos de crítica literaria, Ediciones UADY, Merida, Mexico; Caribbean InTransit, Issue 4, Virgina, USA; Decolonial AestheSis, Social Text Journal / Periscope, New York; Inter Art Actuel, No. 102, Quebec, Canada; IDEA arts + society, #39, Cluj, Romania; Artecubano, Vol.3-4, Havana, Cuba; Bienal de La Habana Para leer, Universitat De Valancia, Artecubano Ediciones y Centro de Arte Contemporáneo Wifredo Lam, [Valencia, Spain], [Havana, Cuba]; Public No. 41, Toronto, Canada; Escaner Cultural, Santiago de Chile, Chile; Integracion y Resistencia en la Era Global, Evento Teorico Decima Bienal de La Habana, Centro de Arte Contemporaneo Wifredo Lam, La Habana, Cuba; Worlds and Knowledges Otherwise, Volume 3, Dossier 1, Center for Global Studies and the Humanities, Duke University; Video en Latinoamerica. Una vision critica, Editorial Brumaria, Madrid; Tierra Adentro, Mexico DF; Forum Idea, 9na Bienal de La Habana 2006; Circus Reader, Melbourne, Australia; Felix: A Journal of Media Arts and Communication, New York; Artpapers, Atlanta; and the Mexican literary magazine Navegaciones Zur.

Executive curator of Arte Nuevo InteractivA: Bienal de las Nuevas Artes, Merida_MX (six editions, 2001-2013), Ferrera-Balanquet has organized numerous art, video and new media exhibitions. Among them Where We Meet, Selections from Howard University Gallery of Art and The Phillips Collection, Special Installation, The Phillips Collection, Washington DC; Sensorial Africana Superrealities: Five Contemporary Diaspora Artists, IA&A at Hillyer, Washington DC, 2024; Genesis: The African American Experience in Art. The Ronald W. and Patricia Turner African American Collection, Howard University Gallery of Art, Washington DC, 2023; Africana Hemispheric Performance, Actions, Socially Public Participations, Rituals, and Ceremonies, Center for Afrofuturist Studies, Iowa City, Iowa, USA, 2021; Indigeneity | Decoloniality | @rt , Jameson Gallery, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, USA, 2015; Traslocalidades en Movimiento, video art, Centro Cultural de España en El Salvador, San Salvador, 2008; In[ter]vencion, [R]-[R]-[F] Festival, JavaMuseum: Forum for Internet Technologies in Contemporary Art, Cologne, Germany, 2004; Huellas de un Corazon Sangrante en Tropicana, MIX-Brasil, Museo de Sonido e Imagen, Sao Paulo, Brazil, 1994; Nomads: Plural Identities in Traveling Territories, Randolph Street Galley, Chicago, Illinois, USA, 1993.

In addition to a Fulbright Fellowship, Ferrera-Balanquet has been awarded grants from Critical Minded, FONCA, Foundation for Contemporary Arts, The Prince Claus Foundation, FOECAY, US/Mexico Cultural Fund, The Australian Network of Art and Technology, the National Endowment for the Arts, and The Lyn Blumenthal Video Foundation

SELECTED EDUCATION

• 2016 Ph. D. Romance Studies Department, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, USA
• 2015 Mayan Dialogues, Centro Estatal de Capacitacion, Investigacion y Difusion Humanistica de Yucatan, Secretary of Education of Yucatan, Mexico.
• 2014 M. A., Romance Studies Department, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, USA.
• 2013 Mayan Summer Institute, UNC-Duke University, Merida and Valladolid, Yucatan, Mexico,
• 1992 M.F.A. Intermedia Arts, Emphasis on Multimedia, Video, Graphic Design, Painting, Installation, Art History and Film Studies and Production, School of           Art and Art History, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, USA.
• 1990 M.A. Intermedia Arts, School of Art and Art History, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, USA.
• 1987 B.G.S. Communication Studies and Film Production, School of Communication, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, USA.

SELECTED EDUCATION / POST GRADUATE-FELLOWSHIPS

• 2025 Budgeting for Exhibitions and Art Organizations. Node Center for Curatorial Studies, Berlin, Germany.
• 2024 Exhibition Design. Node Center for Curatorial Studies, Berlin, Germany.
• 2021 Memorias Vivas. Archivos y museos comunitarios. Post Graduate Seminar IberCultura Viva and CLACSO; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil-Bueno Aries, Argentina.
• 2021 DEAR (Digital Evolution/Artist Retention Fellowship). Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute, New York, USA.
• 2003 Seminar Literature and Literary Criticism, IECY, Institute of Communication Studies of Yucatan, Merida, Yucatan, Mexico.
• 2000 Alchemy Materclass, Australian Network of Art and Technology, Powerhouse Art Center, Brisbane, Australia.
• 1998 Above The Line Fellowship, Web Design and Internet Development, Bay Area Video Coalition, San Francisco, California, USA.
• 1988 Diversity Training Workshop, Women Against Racism Committee, The Women Center, Iowa City, Iowa, USA.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

• 2022-2024 Co-Executive Director, Howard University Gallery of Art, Howard University, Washington DC, USA.
• 2024 Co-Curator, Where We Meet, Selections from Howard University Gallery of Art and The Phillips Collection, The Phillips Collection, Washington, DC, USA.
• 2023 Curator, Sensorial Africana Superrealities: Five Diaspora Contemporary Artists,Washington, DC, USA.
• 2022 Grant Panelist, Visual Arts, National Endowment for the Arts, Washington, DC, USA.
• 2021 Curator / Artist in Residence, Center for Afrofuturist Studies, Iowa City, Iowa, USA.
• 2019 Faculty, Bachelor in Desarrollo y Gestion Interculturales, Escuela Nacional de Estudios Superiores (ENES)-UNAM, Merida, Yucatan, Mexico.
• 2019 Faculty Fellow, Center for Arts, Design, and Social Research (CAD+SR), Boston, Massachusetts, United States and Merida, Yucatan, Mexico.
• 2018 Faculty Art and Dance Education, Superior School of the Arts of Yucatan (ESAY), Merida, Mexico.
• 2017 Guest Faculty, Art Studies PhD, Universidad Distrital Francisco Jose de Caldas, Bogota, Colombia.
• 2017 Executive Director and Curator /Academic Director (2000-2013), Arte Nuevo InteractivA, Biennial and Interdisciplinary Experimental Laboratory,           Merida, Yucatan, Mexico.
• 2016 Artist in Residency and Artist Teacher (2013-2016), Vermont College of Fine Arts, Montpelier, Vermont, USA.
• 2016 Lecturer /Instructor and Research Assistant (2012-2016), Romance Studies, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, USA.
• 2014 Visiting Professor, MA Cultural Studies, Universidad Andina Simon Bolivar, Quito, Ecuador.
• 2014 Co-Curator, Indigeneity | Decoloniality | @rt, Jameson Gallery, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, USA.
• 2011 Guest Professor, Connecting La Havana Media Workshop, ISA (Instituto Superior de Artes) and Alamar Workshop, La Habana, Cuba.
• 2011 Professor, Visual Arts Department, Superior School of the Arts of Yucatan (ESAY), Merida, Mexico
• 2010 Curriculum Development / Professor, Gender and Masculinities, Kanankil Institute-CEPHICES / UNAM, Merida, Yucatan, Mexico.
• 2004 Curator, RRF v.2 Intervencion, JavaMuseum, Forum for Internet Technology in Contemporary Art, Germany.
• 1998 Fulbright Scholar, School of Art, University APEC, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
• 1996 Editor, Pochonovela, A Chicano Soap Opera, Produced and Directed by Coco Fusco, Cabrona Soy Production, Los Angeles, California.
• 1996 Assistant Professor (1992-1996), Film and Video Department, Columbia College, Chicago, Illinois.
• 1993 Curator, Nomadas, Randolph Street Gallery, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
• 1993 Producer / Program Coordinator / Director (1991-1993), Deep Dish TV Network, New York City.

CONFERENCES, SYMPOSIUMS, AND PANELS

• 2025 Decolonizing Curatorial Practices at Howard University Gallery of Art, American Academy in Rome, Via Angelo Masina 5, Rome, Italy.
• 2025 Decolonizing Eurocentric Curatorial Practices in the Global South, Kunst Merano Arte APS, Via dei Portici 163, Merano (BZ), Italy.
• 2025 Decolonizing Curatorial Practices Global South at Howard University Gallery of Art, The Recovery Plan, Via Santa Reparata19r, 50129 Florence, Italy.
• 2024 Sergio Sanchez Santamaria: An Afro Mexican Visual Historian, Graphic In Transit | Sergio Sanchez Santamaria, a book presentation, Duke University,           Durham, North Carolina, USA.
• 2024 Transmigrant Imaginary in Wifredo Lam’s Exodus (1948). Spotlight Talk on the exhibition Where We Meet (April 5 – November 10), The Phillips           Collection, Washington DC.
• 2024 Performance Socialmente Comprometido e Instalación Mediática.Vartex 12, Palacio de Bellas Artes, Medellin, Colombia
• 2023 The Future Past v. Coloniality: Decolonial Media Art Beyond 530 Years, SIGGRAPH 2023, Los Angeles, California, USA.
• 2022 An Exhibition of Decolonial Transborder Art, PAMLA, Luskin Conference Center, UCLA, Los Angeles, California, USA.
• 2021 VI Seminario Internacional de los Estudios Artísticos, Universidad Distrital Francisco Jos&oeacute; de Caldas, Bogota, Colombia.
• 2021 2nd Seminar on Performing Arts and Contemplative Practices: Contemplation, Performing arts and Coexistence, Grupo TRADERE, Centro de Artes e           Letras, UFSM, Santa Maria-RS, Brazil.
• 2021 Africana Aesthesis and Decolonial Creative Practices, Jornada: Dialogando Sobre Arte Decolonial, Grupo Latinoamericano de Formación y Acción           Feminista (GLEFAS), Bogota, Colombia.
• 2021 Decolonizing Masculinities from Yesterday and Today, SEEDS for Change in collaboration with Mount Allison University and Framingham State           University, Canada.
• 2019 Tod[o-a-@-x-e-s]: Debates sobre la inclusion linguistica en la literatura, FILEY: Feria Internacional de la Lectura Yucatan, Merida, Yucatan, Mexico.
• 2018 II Festival de Cine Intercultural de la Zona Maya, Intercultural University Jose Maria Morelos, Quintana Roo, Mexico.
• 2018 Transnational Migration and the Nomadic Imagination, Aestesis, Decolonial Transmoderna Latinx_MX, Southwestern College Art Gallery, Chula Vista,           California, USA.
• 2018 10th UC-Mexicanistas International Congress of Literatura, Feria Internacional de la Lectura Yucatan, FILEY, Merida, Yucatan, Mexico.
• 2017 II Encuentro de Semilleros de Investigacion y Grupos de Estudio LAV, Universidad Pedagogica Nacional. Bogota, Colombia
• 2016 Primeras Jornadas de Estetica y Pensamiento Decolonial, Universidad Nacional de Avellaneda, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
• 2016 NetArt Mediascapes Latino Style: Arquitecturas de imaginarios variables, Universidad Nacional de las Artes, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
• 2015 Shifting the Geography of Reason, Caribbean Philosophical Association, Rivera Maya, Quintana Roo, Mexico.
• 2013 The Radical Caribbeans Conference, Cuban and Caribbean Studies Institute, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.
• 2013 Symposium on Decolonial Aesthetics from the Americas, e-fagia / University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
• 2013 Decolonizing The Cold War, BE.BOP 2013. Black Europe Body Politics, Ballhaus Naunynstraße, Berlin, Germany
• 2012 Theoretical Event, 11th Havana Biennial, Havana, Cuba.
• 2011 LabDeLabs, Centro Cultural de España / Universidad Nacional, Cordoba, Argentina.
• 2009 Transitio_MX 03, Centro Nacional de las Artes, Mexico City, Mexico.
• 2008 Multiculturalism, Migration, and the Mega-Exhibition: Considering the Impacts of Contemporary Festivals, Biennales, and Documentas, Association of           Art Historians Annual Conference, Tate Britain and Tate Modern, London, England.
• 2006 Forum Idea, 9th Havana Biennial, Havana, Cuba.
• 2001 The Straw That Broke The Museum's Back? Digital Art On-Line And On-Site, Museum Computer Network's Annual Conference, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA.
• 1995 BNQN? /Black Nation Queer Nation?, The Graduate Center of the City University of New York, New York City, USA.
• 1995 Theory Beyond the Academy, Knowledge and Identities for the 90's, University of California San Diego, San Diego, California, USA.

SELECTED ARTIST RESIDENCIES

• 2024 StudioWorks Artist-in-Residence Program, Tides Institute and Museum of Art, Eastport, Maine, USA.
• 2022 Center for Afrofuturist Studies, Public Space One, Iowa City, Iowa.
• 2017 Artist in Residency. II Encuentro de Semilleros de Investigación y Grupos de Estudio LAV, Universidad Pedagogica Nacional, Bogota, Colombia.
• 2013 Vermont College of Fine Arts, Montpelier, Vermont, USA.
• 2004 Digital Poetics and Politics, Summer institute, Queen University, Kingston, Canada.
• 2022 Alchemy, Australian Network of Art and Technology, Powerhouse Art Center, Brisbane, Australia.

GRANTS AND HONORS

• 2025 Foundation for Contemporary Arts, New York, New York, USA.
• 2022 MeridaFest, Merida Cultural Office, Yucatan, Mexico.
• 2021 / 2021 Critical Minded / Allied Media Projects, United States.
• 2017 FONCA, Programa de Fomento a Proyectos y Coinversiones Culturales, Estudios Culturales (Cultural Studies), Mexico DF, Mexico.
• 2017 Foundation for Contemporary Arts, New York, New York, USA.
• 2012 Research Grant, Tinker Foundation Incorporated/Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
• 2011 Prince Claus Traveling Fund, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
• 2010 Production Grant, Office of Culture, City of Merida, Yucatan, Mexico.
• 2004 FOECAY/CONACULTA, Yucatan, Mexico.
• 2001 US / Mexico Fund for Culture, Contacto Cultural, FONCA / Rockefeller Foundation.
• 2000 Alchemy Fellowship, Australian Network of Art and Technology, Australia.
• 1998 Fulbright Scholar, USA.
• 1998 Above the Line Fellowship, BAVC, San Francisco, California, USA.
• 1993 The Frameline Film and Video Completion Fund, San Francisco, California, USA.
• 1993 Lyn Blumenthal Fund for Independent Video/Criticism Grant, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
• 1992 NEA, Film in the Cities Regional Film/Video Grants Program, Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA.