Donna Honarpisheh receives the Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Curatorial Work for her bold and multidisciplinary approach to scholarship, curatorial practices, and contemporary arts discourse. In addition to her leadership with the Knight Foundation Art and Research Center at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami, she hosts the Knight/ICA Miami podcast “Tomorrow is the Problem,” exploring the hidden meanings behind everyday phenomena in an effort to better understand cultural and political issues, movements, and perspectives.

Growing up as a child of Iranian immigrants in Canada and the United States, Honarpisheh observed the linguistic, racial, and class barriers her parents faced, as well as the tensions between her country of heritage and the places where she grew up. The arts and museum education programs provided her with solace and perspective. These experiences are part of the foundation of Honarpisheh’s work: “I approach curatorial work as an opportunity to expand perceptions of diverse cultural traditions and to draw connections between them.”

Honarpisheh is deeply aware of the important role that institutions play in expanding the canon of art history: A core goal in her work is to redress gaps in Western art history and American museums. She does this by developing exhibitions that center the work of important global artists. For many of these artists, she is presenting their first solo exhibitions in the United States. Her exhibition Ahmed Morsi: Elegy of the Sea was named one of 12 must-see exhibitions during Miami Art Basel by Artsy, and one of the most important exhibitions in 2023 by ARTnews. 

Honarpisheh’s curatorial practice is rooted in empathy, curiosity, and a commitment to global inclusivity in art. In her work to center artists from historically underrepresented countries in the Western canon of art history, she highlights the transformative potential of art, and its role in building a more just future.

Awards & Accomplishments

John L. Simpson ABD Graduate Students Research Fellowship (2021)
UC Berkeley’s Extraordinary Teaching in Extraordinary Times Award (2021)
Berkeley Connect Dissertation Research Fellow (2020)
Critical Theory Dissertation Research Grant (2020)
UC Berkeley Center for Race and Gender Research Grant (2020)
Institute for International Studies Fellowship (2018)
Eugene Cota-Robles Fellowship for Graduate Study (2014-2016)
The Raymond Seidelman Award for Political Advocacy (2013)
Meredith Fonda Russell International Fieldwork Fellowship (2012)