PLATFORM is thrilled to announce our 2025/26 Curator-in-Residence, Christina Oyawale (MB) (they/them). We’re excited to collaborate with Christina over the next year as they develop new curatorial research and programming that reflects their working-class, queer, and DIY ethos. Their approach rooted in Web 2.0 nostalgia, punk sensibilities, and critical engagement with culture and politics promises to bring a fresh and deeply thoughtful perspective to PLATFORM’s ongoing exploration of contemporary photographic and digital practices.
The Curator-in-Residence receives a $3,000 CAD curatorial fee, travel and research stipend, and administrative, installation, marketing, and PR support from PLATFORM. The residency also includes access to PLATFORM’s facilities, a one-year membership, and curatorial mentorship throughout the process.
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During the residency, Oyawale will work closely with selected artists to develop a group exhibition, write accompanying texts, and lead a curatorial tour. They will develop an exhibition statement, a curatorial essay, design the exhibition layout, and collaborate with PLATFORM staff to bring their vision to life. We’re thrilled to support Christina’s research and look forward to seeing their project unfold over the next year.
BIOGRAPHY
Christina Oyawale (they/them) is a hierarchy averse self-proclaimed “commie-punk”, with a reverence towards Web 2.0 and DIY punk aesthetics. They are a working-class queer disabled artist, curator, and writer from Toronto, currently based in Winnipeg. Christina holds a BFA in Photography Studies from Toronto Metropolitan University and is pursuing their MFA at the University of Manitoba.
Their obsessive nostalgia towards 2010s blogosphere culture is informed by the now-defunct Rookie Magazine, the failures of Occupy Wall Street, and midwest emo bands. Christina’swide-ranging interests in popular culture and politics are weaved into the fabric of their interdisciplinary practice. Subconsciously reflected in their work as an amalgamation of images, archives, cultural critique, and longing for a post-digital connective space. Their current works comprises printmaking and photography, utilizing texts by cultural theorists and abolitionists of the Frankfurt School, Mark Fisher, Walter Rodney, etcetera. Their goal is finding new approaches to disseminating academic political investigations surrounding topics of capitalism’s effects on shared intimacy, class divides, and arts labour rights.
Christina has curated and exhibited throughout Ontario and Western Canada, notably at Trinity Square Video (Toronto), Artspace TMU (Toronto), Gallery 44 (Toronto), Xpace Cultural Centre (Toronto), Martha Street Studio (Winnipeg), Hamilton Artists Inc (Hamilton,ON), and The New Gallery (Calgary).​​​​​
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