Throughout 2024, we are collaborating with three curators as part of our Curatorial Development Programme, generously supported by the John Ellerman Foundation. Established in 2023, this annual programme aims to nurture a diverse new generation of curators, helping them build confidence, acquire skills, and gain experience in producing and presenting work that intersects art and technology.

At FACT, we believe curatorial knowledge is crucial for understanding the significance and potential of artistic practice and making it accessible to a wide audience. Now in its second year, our resident curators—each at different stages of their careers—have become invaluable contributors. They lead research initiatives and assist in delivering our exhibitions and events, enriching the cultural landscape of FACT. 

From left to right: Ivy Kalungi, Beatice Zaidenberg and Stella Sideli. 

Ivy Kalungi

Curatorial Assistant

Ivy is an artist based in Liverpool, currently developing her practice as a Curatorial Assistant at FACT. Born in Uganda and raised in Belfast, her artistic practice centres on the intricate tapestry of female black experience. Through sculpture, installation, video, sound and social practice, Ivy sheds lights on the nuanced complexities of identity and belonging. 

Ivy completed her MFA at Manchester University in 2020 and her BA at Liverpool Hope University in 2019. Her work has been showcased at Pipeline in London, Castlefield Gallery in Manchester, and OUTPUT Gallery in Liverpool. She has also participated in notable panel discussions, including the Black Women Artists Symposium with Lubaina Himid at UCLAN and Artists in Conversation at the Bluecoat in Liverpool.

During her residency, Ivy has collaborated closely with our Exhibitions and Studio/Lab teams. She has focused on researching and digitising FACT’s exhibitions archive, facilitating workshops with artists, installing solo exhibitions by R.I.P. Germain and Sara Sadik, and supporting the development of Art Plays Games, an exhibition that questions how game worlds might offer us new ways of thinking about whose stories are told and how they are represented.

Beatrice Zaidenberg

Curator-in-Residence

Beatrice is an interdisciplinary collaborator with Ukrainian heritage based in Germany. After completing her Master's degree at the Humboldt University in Berlin and Goldsmiths University in London, she worked as a curatorial trainee at ZKM | Centre for Art and Media Karlsruhe. Later, she travelled to Colombia to work with artists and activists in an international exchange program. There, Beatrice developed her tools and methods to include collaborative practices in curatorial projects. She is currently a Curator-in-Residence at FACT and a project manager at Schering Stiftung in Berlin. These roles have allowed her to build lasting international networks, creating stronger and more sustainable connections between art, science, and technology.

Beatrice’s residency at FACT is building towards her upcoming exhibition which will include a mixture of new commissions, ambitious restagings and a series of events. From 8 November 2024 to 26 January 2025, Cosmotechnics explores the relationship between culture and technology through the lens of three artists from Latin America. Each artwork challenges the idea that technology (how we use it, define it and what it produces) is the same everywhere. Instead, the works show how local ways of thinking and sensing can create new ways to embrace art and culture, through multiple understandings and perspectives of technology.

Stella Sideli

Research Curator

Stella joins us as Research Curator with a focus on feminist and queer theories, non-extractive curating, and Global South methodologies. For her residency, Stella will use composition, voice, rhythm and movement to explore governance as practice, rather than function. She plans to work closely with the team and Board of Trustees at FACT, to embed lived experience, equity, access, and inclusion into curatorial practices.

Stella's residency includes monthly visits to Liverpool for her PhD research on Equality, Diversity, and and Inclusion in curatorial practices and cultural public programmes. Her initiatives at FACT will feature public events, podcasts, live performances, and a collaboratively created score or anthology. By treating governance as a dynamic, community-driven practice, Stella aims to foster a sense of belonging and inclusivity within the institution.

Stella's past projects, including exhibitions and collaborations at Tenderpixel, Somerset House and Castlefield Gallery, explored lived experiences and community engagement. Her approach at FACT will involve artist collaborations and innovative public programming, aiming to cultivate new understandings and practices through collective engagement and process.

Ivy, Beatrice and Stella's residencies are part of our three-year Curatorial Development Programme, generously supported by the John Ellerman Foundation.

If you would like to support FACT and the work we do to support the next generation of voices, please donate here.