Belén Santillán

Belén Santillán is an Ecuadorian artist and educator based in Oslo. Her practice explores the intersections of art and critical pedagogies, focusing on how institutional models can be reimagined to foster access to creative expression.

Her recent project, El Micromuseo de Plantas Migrantes (2024–2025), is a self-made institution that, through performative lectures, installations, and low-fi films, examines migration and language as sites of resistance, reflecting on the displacement of both people and knowledge systems.

She is a member of Tenthaus, an artist-run collective in Oslo that engages in collaborative and process-based curatorial projects. Through her involvement with Tenthaus, Belén explores models of art practice and education that prioritize community engagement and collective learning. With Tenthaus, she has developed public programs for Momentum 12 – Nordic Biennial of Contemporary Art, Tegnetriennalen 2023, and Stedsveven (2024–2026), a public art project commissioned by Oslo Kommune Kunstsamling, which explores place-based practices, oral histories, and alternative cartographies.

Her recent projects and collaborations have been presented at Henie Onstad Kunstsenter – DKS-LAB for kritikere, Latvian Centre for Contemporary Art (LCCA), Singapore Art Museum – SAM, and Centro de Arte Contemporáneo de Quito.