macarena magaña villar

linkedin 

macarenamagana@gmail.com

1999

I am a cultural worker, communication officer and researcher born in Bilbao and raised in Madrid. With a background in Journalism, I am currently pursuing a Masters in Critical Studies at the Sandberg Instituut in Amsterdam. My experience managing social media and creating content for various institutions and art spaces like the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice, and W139 in Amsterdam have shaped my research interest in online community-building and its manifestations in physical spaces. I am particularly drawn to the internet subcultures, digital and non-digital folklore, self-conceptualisation, and collective grieving that can emerge within digital culture. My practice is fluid and in-situ, responding to each topic I explore.



#study

2024 
2026
MA in Arts /// Critical StudiesSandberg Instituut 
Gerrit Rietveld Academie
Amsterdam, Netherlands

2019 
2023
Bachelor in Bilingual Journalism
Universidad Carlos III de Madrid
Madrid, Spain



#mediation

july 2025NO DIVING
Co-Curator and Producer
+   Macarena Magaña Villar and Lucía del Valle Ramírez took over the bathrooms of the Eye Filmmuseum as part of Architectures of Intimacy, a film program curated by Kato Van der Speeten.

An audio piece by Lou Vives activated the space during the breaks of the film programme.

Cuando llega el calor, las chicas se enamoran…

In the midst of the unbearable summer heat, and tempted by the collective ritual of vacation, a deep desire begins to surface: immersing our tired, static bodies in cool waters. After months drained by work, the sun is finally out, the days are longer, our reward is here… vacation has finally arrived. Where and how you spend it, though, will depend on many factors.
Our bodies begin to thirst for the architectures of fluidity: spaces where weight, limits, and pressure dissolve. Public pools become shared, improvised sanctuaries, where a quiet choreography unfolds between the coloured tiles of the changing rooms. The scent of chlorine promises disconnection, floating, and relief — but only, of course, if you follow the rules.

With Carmen Hinojosa, Ayub El Kadmiri, Lola Colmez, Azahara Lozano, Mathilde Colette, Gervaise Alexis Savvias and Santiago Saizu. 

No Diving is presented at Eye as part of Architectures of Intimacy, a film programme curated by Kato van der Speeten, exploring the connections and interactions between people in intimate spaces such as a sauna, public bathroom or taxi...




Eye Filmmuseum
Amsterdam, Netherlands

march 2025The Plaza as a Place
Co-Curator and Programmer
+

Macarena Magaña Villar (Critical Studies, Sandberg Instituut) and Lucía del Valle Ramirez (Photography, Gerrit Rietveld Academie) were selected through an Open Call by Public & Projects Rietveld to take over the Glass Pavilion of the Rietveld Academie.

Their project "The Plaza as a Place" departed from the idea of viewing the Rietveld and the Sandberg as a neighbourhood with its streets, corners, nooks, buildings and gardens. They transformed the Pavilion space into a temporary neighbourhood community center which was in dialogue with its surroundings and activated by its inhabitants.

There were three public programme events. The first one, The plaza as a literary place/La plaza como espacio literario, was an evening of readings in mother language at the Pavilion.

The second, The plaza as a place for urban protest/La plaza como lugar de protesta urbana, consisted of screenings in the plaza, showing the protest and community uses of squares and public spaces.

The third, The plaza as a place of celebration/La plaza como lugar de celebración, was a “verbena,” a celebration combining music, food, and dancing in the open air, celebrating the coming together of the community and the closing of the project.


Rietveld Pavillion
Gerrit Rietveld Academie
Amsterdam, Netherlands


#communication

2024 
2025
Communications Assistant

Communication Internship  
W139
Amsterdam, Netherlands

2023 
2024
Digital Social Media Internship /// Carola Jain Scholarship Peggy Guggenheim Collection
Venice, Italy

2022 
2023
Digital Communication Manager

Social Media Internship
UVNT Art Fair and CAN Art Ibiza
Madrid, Spain
Ibiza, Spain



#perfomance #lectures #publications

june 2025

'When are you?' poetry collection.
+

Taking cue from the arbitrariness of the contract as a literary form; from one another’s rituals and rou - tines, this publication is a collection of poetic contracts, ritualistic observations, and entangled meanderings alongside our habits; infatuations; excessive proclivities; the void, and everything considered in—between. By breaking ties, or otherwise reassessing our relationship to the static, unseen, or algorithmic, we elect to sit with lack, rather than alleviating from it.

Contributors:
Macarena Magaña Villar,
Antonina Swietlicka,
Francesca D’Errico,
Christina Reindhardt,
Emma Nyhof Ajdari,
Mia You,
Eva Delville,
Sara Vallis,
Philippine Talamona,
Paul Schmidt,
António Manso Preto,
gervaise alexis savvias

Design by: Geke Zaa
l




january 2025
Long Live the Ghost  
Studies for NO
+

A perfomance piece with Philippine Talamona exploring the spirits and emotions of the machine.

𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒏𝒆𝒄𝒌 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉
𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒚 𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒏 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔
𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒐 𝒎𝒆
𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒐 𝒎𝒆
𝒇𝒍𝒐𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒂𝒕𝒂 𝒑𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈
𝑰 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒄𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒌𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒏𝒆𝒙𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒚 𝒆𝒂r



Perdu
Amsterdam, Netherlands

june 2023

#publication
Digital Intimacy: Creating intimacy through ASMR
+

Multimedia in-depth report about the internet trend of ASMR, it's origin and use as an immersive experience in museums.



Madrid, Spain




#radio

april 2025
now
Facilitator and Host
+

PUB is an trans-departmental initiative funded and run by students of the Sandberg Institute. Establishing a publishing practice at the University, PUB functions as a hub and a platform to identify interdisciplinary connections and accelerate collaborations amongst students, alumni and third parties. PUB’s channels include radio, Tv, PUBcast, website, Type Lab, Journal, and publishing sessions.

Sandberg Graduation 2025 PUB Boat

De Ateliers X PUB: Offspring 2025

PUB Radio
Amsterdam, Netherlands


june 2025LUNCH POEMS w/ gervaise alexis savvias, Macarena Magaña Villar, Paul Schmidt, Emma Ajdari, Taylor L, and António Manso Preto.  
+

‘Deviating from the cool, clinical and monolithic approach to language and poetry as forms of sound––ing, we observe language, poetics, and orality as deeply intertwined with the disobedience inherent to sound. Language is noise, with a deeply powerful ability to agitate; to deviate; to suture. For this first iteration of LUNCH POEMS, taking cue from Frank O’Hara’s seminal collection, we explore aurality through a series of fragmented encounters with homogeography, chance, bootlegged theory, and critical fabulation. Or otherwise: tongue to roof of mouth to text to poem to NO to prismatic to algorithmic. This broadcast is brought to you by gervaise alexis savvias, Macarena Magaña Villar, Paul Schmidt, Emma Ajdari, Taylor L, and António Manso Preto.’


Cover image by Santiago Saiz


Link to video
Kiosk Radio
Brussels, Belgium



#sidehustles

may 2025Face Painter for Espacio Estamos BienW139
Amsterdam

2023
now
Social Media Content Creator for art spaces, art galleries and more.