Maayan Sheleff is an independent curator based in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. During the last decade she has been dealing with social and political issues through her curatorial practice, often working in the public domain or involving local communities. Her projects explore the mediums of photography, the moving image, new media and performance, and take a reflexive approach towards participation and activism. She is currently studying for a Practice-Based PHD at the Research Platform for Curatorial and Cross-disciplinary Cultural Studies, a co-operation of the University of Reading (UK) with Zurich University of the Arts (CH).

Since 2014 Sheleff is the artistic advisor of The Art Cube Artists’ Studios in Jerusalem, and the founder and curator of its international residency program “LowRes Jerusalem”. She was the Curator at Line 16 Gallery (2006-2009) and at the CCA, Tel Aviv, as well as assistant Director at its international Curatorial Studies Program (2009-2012). She curated projects at the Metropolitan Museum of Photography, Tokyo, Madre museum in Naples, Herzlyia Museum in Israel, Shift festival in Basel, and the Bloomfield Science Museum in Jerusalem, among other venues, and was co-curator of the first Tel Aviv- Yaffo Biennial (ARTLV 2009).

Sheleff was a curatorial resident at Artport, Tel- Aviv (2013) where together with Eran Hadas and Gal Eshel she created the experimental research project “Frankie- the Documentarian Robot”, that later participated in various exhibitions and festival such as Ars Electronica, Powerflows in Vienna, Art in Odd Places in NY, State festival in Berlin and the Science Gallery in Dublin. She won ISCP’s (International Studio& curatorial program, NY) Curator Award (2012), and participated in ICI’s (Independent curators international, NY) curatorial intensive (2010), among other residencies. She teaches in Bezalel Academy of Art and Design, Jerusalem, the Sam Spiegel Film and Television school, Jerusalem, and at Sapir College in Sderot. Her latest publication was Fear and Love in Graz, (in:) Empty Stages, Crowded Flats. Performativity as Curatorial Strategy, performing urgency #4, Editors Florian Malzacher and Janna Warsza.