Stefano Mudu

University of Bergamo (Italy) 

Gerda Henkel Foundation Fellow in the History of Art

Kettle of fish: toward an art history of homoerotic imagery in the HIV/AIDS crisis 

2026–2027: Spring

Stefano Mudu holds a PhD in visual culture from IUAV University of Venice. His research focuses on strategies of enactment and re-enactment in contemporary artistic production, practices of iconographic reactivation in visual culture, and the possibility of rethinking art history through the lenses of queer theory, feminism, colonialism, and pressing ecological concerns. His current work examines the role of visuality during the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

He has worked as a curatorial researcher for major international exhibitions and institutions, including the 59th International Art Exhibition of the Venice Biennale, “The Milk of Dreams,” curated by Cecilia Alemani, and “New Humans: Memories of the Future,” curated by Massimiliano Gioni at the New Museum, New York.

He is the author of the monographs Spazi Critici. I luoghi della scrittura contemporanea (2018) and Enactments: Reactivation Strategies in Contemporary Art Practices (2026). Alongside several academic essays, he regularly contributes to publications in the field.