Martina Petrelli (she/her) is a curator and cultural worker currently based in Norway/Sápmi. She is curator at Atelier Kunstnerforbundet (2022–), located inside of one of Scandinavia’s oldest artist-run exhibition spaces in Oslo/Oslove, where she organizes the collective studio programme and artist residencies as well as solidarity initiatives with and for communities. Martina is also curator for Nitja Centre for Contemporary Art (2018–) in Lillestrøm, where she organizes exhibitions and publications; and she previously served as chair of The Norwegian Association of Curators (2022–2024).
Previous engagements include assistant curator at Office for Contemporary Art (OCA) for ‘The Sámi Pavilion’ in the Nordic Countries Pavilion at the 59th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia (2022); coordinator of the Oslo Art Guide and for the Oslo Art Weekend international critics visits in collaboration with the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2017–2023); creating the model and guidelines for The Norwegian Association of Curators’ Curatorial Archive (2019–2024); project- and gallery coordinator at Fotogalleriet (2016–2018, Oslo/Oslove) on occasion of the 40-year anniversary programme; and assistant curator at Tromsø Kunstforening (2014–2015, Tromsø/Romssa).
Recently, Martina has focused on exploring infrastructural work in cultural practices through the project and paper ‘Curatorial scaffolding — Reflections on temporary structures of necessity and the Forum for Infrastructural Theories and Practices’, as part of her MA degree in Curatorial Practice at the Faculty of Fine Art, Music and Design (KMD), University of Bergen (Bergen/Birgon, 2025). She previously studied philosophy, literature, and linguistics, holds an MA from Sandberg Instituut (Amsterdam, Netherlands, 2013), and a BA from Ècole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts de Lyon (Lyon, France, 2011).
