Dr. Riva Symko is Head of Collections and Exhibitions and Curator of Canadian Art at the Winnipeg Art Gallery. Previously, she held posts with institutions such as the Kimura Gallery, University of Alberta Museums, [ x]curated curatorial collective, Nuit Blanche Edmonton, Modern Fuel Artist-Run Centre, and ArtLab Gallery. In addition Dr. Symko has held a number of academic positions including Assistant Professor of Art History at the University of Alaska Anchorage, and has taught at the University of Lethbridge, Memorial University, and Queen’s University. 

Her primary areas of research include twentieth and twenty-first century Western visual culture, North American Indigenous creative practices, Canadian art, copyright law and the doctrines of fair use/fair dealing, as well as critical and cultural theory including feminist theory, theories of authenticity and originality, historiography, and decolonization pedagogy and methodology. In addition, she has published critical writing on art with MOMUS, Luma Quarterly, SNAPline, Latitude 53 Artist-Run Centre, the University of Lethbridge Art Gallery, Modern Fuel Artist-Run Centre, and the Union Gallery. Dr. Symko is of white settler ancestry. 

Education

• PH. D., Queen’s University Kingston, Ontario

• M.A., Western University, London, Ontario

• B.A. Hons., University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta