Hi, my name's Debbie. I'm a London-based writer and curator.

My art writing leans into emotion, anecdote and humour and has been published internationally, including by Hatje Cantz, Rizzoli, Tate, Hayward Gallery Publishing, and CURA magazine. Fried yam in the museum, my article discussing art and communication, is a set text on the Courtauld Institute of Art’s MA Curating programme.

As a curator, I've worked on exhibitions at the Hayward Gallery, Tate Modern, Somerset House and the Migration Museum. Highlights include the acclaimed exhibition In the Black Fantastic at the Hayward Gallery, and curating outdoor installations by Jyll Bradley and Souad Abdelrasoul also at the Hayward. I have also guest-curated The Conch at South London Gallery and Within a Budding Grove at Pi Artworks, London.

I am currently Assistant Curator, Research and Interpretation, at Tate Modern and Tate Britain. My research explores speculative interpretation in art museums.

Selected Publications

Aqsa Arif (Southwark Park Galleries, 2024)

I wrote about Aqsa Arif's work for the Jerwood Survey III exhibition catalogue. The exhibition tours to Southwark Park Galleries (London), g39 (Cardiff), Site Gallery (Sheffield) and Collective (Edinburgh).

Fried Yam in the Museum (Immediations, 2023)

Published as the lead piece in the Courtauld's post-graduate, peer-reviewed journal. Read here.

How does art speak? (Tate, 2023)

Commissioned to write a long-form piece for Tate's website looking at works by Lyle Ashton Harris, Trisha Brown, Sharon Hayes, and the Gee's Bend quiltmakers. Read here.

Dear Earth (Hayward Gallery Publishing, 2023)

Contributed texts on Imani Jacqueline Brown and Richard Mosse for the Dear Earth exhibition catalogue

Binta Diaw (Numéro Art, 2023)

Notes on Growth (Hayward Gallery, 2023)

Published to accompany Jyll Bradley's major commission The Hop at the Hayward Gallery.

Clay Pop (Rizzoli, 2022)

Contributed a text on Lindsey Mendick's work to the exhibition catalogue for Clay Pop at Jeffrey Deitch, New York.

Strange Clay (Hayward Gallery Publishing, 2022)

Contributed texts on Liu Jianhua and Klara Kristalova to the Strange Clay exhibition catalogue.

Somaya Critchlow - Afternoon's Darkness (émergent magazine, 2022)

Lindsey Mendick (CURA. magazine, 2022)

Selected Talks

Visiting Curator, Launch Pad LaB, Charente, France (2024)

As part of the Launch Pad LaB Artist Residency, I led studio visits with the three resident artists, Louise Beer, Anna Perach and Pilar Quinteros.

Speculative Writing as Art Interpretation, Association for Art History, University of Bristol (2024)

Art and Activism, Southbank Centre (2023)

I spoke on a panel with Tori Tsui, Love Ssega and Anjali Raman-Middleton (Choked Up) about the role art can play in addressing the climate crisis.

Jyll Bradley in conversation with Debbie Meniru, Launch Pad LaB, New York (2023)

As Hardly Found: A Conversation, Architectural Association (2023)

I was invited to give a presentation, Fried yam in the archive, and participate in a panel discussion with Mariana Castillo Deball, Ato Jackson and Ella Mahalia Adu.

Disrupting the Narrative: Black Voices, British Lives, Barbican Centre (2022)

I chaired a panel discussion between filmmakers Jessica Ashman, Isabel Barfod, Mary Martins, Ezra Myers and Osbert Parker as part of the London International Animation Festival.

In conversation: Indie A. Choudhury and Debbie Meniru, The Courtauld Gallery (2022)

I spoke with Indie A. Choudhury, Lecturer of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Courtauld Institute of Art, about the cultural impact of decolonising art.

Appau Jnr Boakye-Yiadom and Hardeep Pandhal, Courtauld Research Forum (2019)

I moderated a conversation between artists Appau Jnr Boakye-Yiadom and Hardeep Pandhal as part of the programme of events for GENERATIONS at Somerset House.

Selected Interviews

Dear Earth, Something Curated

I spoke with Something Curated about the Hayward Gallery exhibition Dear Earth. Read here.

On the Steps of 36: Debbie Meniru, AirAA Podcast, Architectural Association

Appeared on the AA’s podcast answering 36 questions posed by designer and curator Manijeh Verghese. Listen here.

In the Black Fantastic, TVP Kultura

Interviewed on national Polish television channel TVP Kultura about the Hayward Gallery’s exhibition In the Black Fantastic.

Interview, w21 | Women 21st Century

Spoke with Valeria Facchin, Co-Founder of w21 and Director of the Nicoletta Fiorucci Foundation, about (dis)embodiment as a decolonial artistic and curatorial strategy.

Awards

Runner-up for AKO Curatorial Award 2019

Selected for the NEON Curatorial Exchange 2019

MA Curating the Art Museum Scholarship 2019, Courtauld Institute of Art

Contact

Instagram

@debbiemeniru