Maria Santoyo

Madrid, Spain, 1979

Graduated in Art History from the Complutense University of Madrid, Spain, a
researcher and professor specializing in the history of photography and image
analysis, María Santoyo accumulates almost twenty five years of experience in
the cultural sector, and more than fifteen dedicated to directing and
management of exhibition projects and specialized teaching and dissemination,
activities that she has carried out independently since 2014.

She has recently been appointed as the new Director of the international
photography and visual arts festival PHotoESPAÑA. In 2021, she founded
Curiosa, a consulting company specialized in the application of new narratives
in the educational and corporate field. She has combined her position as CEO
with independent curating of exhibitions and the direction of the International
Master's Degree in Photography at EFTI school (2017-2023). Until 2022, she
has been a member of the Fundación Telefónica Digital Culture Council, a think
tank in charge of advising and supporting the Foundation in its contents and
strategies in the fields of culture, thought and knowledge. She is currently a
fellow of the Aspen Institute Spain, a recognition granted to a limited number of
representatives of the academic, business, scientific and public sectors aimed
at promoting enlightened leadership among young people between the ages of
35 and 45 who are committed to the future of society.

As a curator, she is responsible for more than twenty exhibitions seen to date in
over sixty venues of eight countries. Her latest project Color: knowledge of the
invisible is currently on tour in Latin America (Venezuela, Ecuador, México,
Perú) after its first presentation at the Espacio Fundación Telefónica in Madrid.
Between 2005 and 2010, she has coordinated projects for international
institutions and experts such as the Aperture Foundation, Magnum Photos,
Kathy Ryan or Trisha Ziff.

As a teacher, she has taught at the Higher Institute of Art, the Polytechnic
University of Madrid, the European University, the Complutense University of
Madrid, the University of Salamanca, NYU Madrid and EFTI. She is the author
of several books specialized in photography and has collaborated with critical
texts in various collective publications, in addition to advising international
competitions such as Art for Change, Fotopres La Caixa, Descubrimientos
PHotoESPAÑA or the Alliance Française International Photography Contest.

Since 2016, she has collaborated every year in projects by emerging creators
that make hidden realities visible, a non-profit program that has contributed to
promoting the careers of visual artists such as the Syrian Carole Alfarah or the
Colombian Luis Carlos Tovar. She is also responsible for managing the Ragel
Archive, a private collection with nearly 10,000 negatives from the late 19th and
early 20th centuries.