Vivian Ziherl

Research and Programmes Manager
Kunstinstituut Melly, Rotterdam

Vivian Ziherl is a curator, researcher and writer currently serving as Research and Programmes Manager at Kunstinstituut Melly in Rotterdam. She studied at de Appel Curatorial Program and is a PhD Candidate in curatorial studies at Monash University with supervision by Denise Ferreira da Silva. Following her role as assistant curator at Kunstverein Amsterdam and as curator with the performance agency If I Can’t Dance, I Don’t Want to be Part of Your Revolution, Ziherl established the Frontier Imaginaries foundation and curatorial platform.

In her current role at Kunstinstituut Melly she has served in particular on the Name Change Initiative of symbolic and structural transformations by which the institution renewed its institutional culture, its audiences, and its ongoing mission for social responsibility in divesting from the former colonially affiliated name ‘Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art’. Ziherl is known for her work with Indigenous artists including Richard Bell, Megan Cope, Gordon Hookey and Ryan Presley, among others. She has also produced a survey of Koloa (Great Ocean Textiles) led by Lady Tuna Kaimanu Fielakepa and co-curated with Cosmin Costinas. In her freelance work, she has collaborated with documenta 14 (Athens and Kassel); e-flux Projects; and Columbia University (New York); among others.

Vivian Ziherl visited Vienna on a research trip as part of the exchange with the Mondriaan Fonds in 2023.

Vivian Ziherl, Photo: courtesy of the curator.