Who Tells The Story?

9 February 2026

Ileana_Graphic_web

WHO TELLS THE STORY?
Power, Appropriation, and the Ethics of Translation in a Museum

Led by Ileana Ramirez, Independent Curator at Tráfico Visual in Caracas, Venezuela.

Thursday, 26 February

  • 9 am Caracas
  • 10 am Buenos Aires
  • 2 pm Madrid
  • 4 pm Doha
  • 6.30 pm Delhi
  • 9 pm Singapore

Go to the Members Only Section to Register for this CIMAM Connects Sessions

Abstract:

Contemporary museums are not neutral spaces: they function as cultural mediators, producers of discourse, and active agents in shaping narratives about history, memory, and identity. This role brings forward complex dilemmas around the ethics of representation, cultural appropriation, the authority to speak, and the fidelity involved in translating knowledge.

This online gathering invites to a conversation around key questions such as:

  • How can cultural visibility be fostered with respect for the communities represented?
  • Who is allowed to tell the story within the museum, and how is that permission shaped?
  • What is lost or transformed when a cultural experience is translated into an exhibition?

Rather than seeking consensus, the aim is to activate a critical discussion, grounded in concrete experiences and examples about the ethical limits and institutional responsibilities of the contemporary museum.

Thematic Points and Guiding Questions

1 Representation or Appropriation

Every exhibition involves an ethical decision about visibility and cultural appropriation.

  • When does cultural mediation become symbolic appropriation?
  • Is it possible to present living cultural practices without decontextualizing or aestheticizing them?

2 Shaping Voices, Curating who’s heard

The museum produces discourse and legitimizes voices, but who is actually speaking?

  • Can the museum speak with without speaking for?
  • What happens when community narratives conflict with institutional frameworks?

3 Translation, Truth, and Responsibility

Every translation—linguistic, cultural, or museographic—transforms meaning and affects truth.

  • What is lost when a worldview is translated into museographic language?
  • Who bears responsibility for translation‑driven transformations, and how can collaboration with communities guide more faithful interpretations?

Cross‑cutting Closing

Final Question:

What ethical responsibilities should museums assume today when representing others?

Go to the Members Only Section to Register for this CIMAM Connects Sessions

Biography

Ileana Ramírez Romero is an independent researcher and curator based in Caracas, Venezuela. She is the founder and director of Tráfico Visual, a cultural platform dedicated to contemporary artistic discourse. With a background in law, she brings a multidisciplinary perspective to her work, focusing on the social, critical, and aesthetic dimensions of memory, history, gender, and diaspora. Her research primarily explores collaborative art practices and experimental forms within Latin America.

Most recently, she organized the international group exhibition Supuestos y presupuestos at Ausstellungsraum Klingental in Basel, Switzerland. She contributed as an advisory member and writer for Latin American Artists: From 1785 to Now (2023), published by Phaidon Press, and also served as an advisory member for Vitamin V: Video and the Moving Image in Contemporary Art.

In 2022, Ramírez participated in the Goethe-Institut’s program in Rio de Janeiro, where she developed Morar la frontera, a local initiative fostering collaboration between the arts and the community. That same year, she completed a two-month research residency at Kunstinstituut Melly in Rotterdam, Netherlands.

Previously, she served as Program Director at the Cisneros Foundation in Caracas until June 2019, leading educational initiatives such as Art in Context and supporting the foundation’s artistic residency program. In 2018, she conceptualized and coordinated the 7th edition of the Fundación Cisneros International Seminar. In 2019, she was invited to the 45th National Salon of Artists of Colombia with her project Crossing the Line.

Ramírez was selected for the 2025 Residency Program in Geneva, Switzerland, supported by Pro Helvetia South America, which will further advance her work in collaborative and interdisciplinary artistic practices. Additionally, she is currently developing Unbound Realms, an upcoming group exhibition at FABRIKculture in Hégenheim, France.

Useful links: