BIO

Catherine Somzé (1977, BE) is a cultural critic and educator based in Amsterdam with roots in Egypt and Syria. She holds a BA and MA in Art History from the Complutense University of Madrid (2001), an MA degree in Film and Television Studies from the Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences Amsterdam (2003), and a Research MA in Media Studies from the University of Amsterdam (2006). Her current research explores the enactment of cultural entrepreneurship by visual artists in the Netherlands, from an intersectional perspective.  

At present, Catherine combines a senior lectureship in modern and contemporary art at the Erasmus University College with a teaching position at the Willem de Kooning Academy, where she also serves as the head of the assessment committee for the art and design departments. Furthermore, Catherine is a thesis supervisor for the Dirty Art Department and a member of the examination board at the Sandberg Institute in Amsterdam. In the past, she lectured on design research methods in the Master of Interior Architecture: Research + Design at the Piet Zwart Institute.  

Catherine has published widely about art and culture, from exhibition reviews, opinion pieces on art education and interviews with artists and writers such as Ulay, Jo Baer and Michel Houellebecq. From 2008 until 2011, she was the chief art critic for Time Out Amsterdam.  Her work as a cultural critic and art journalist has also appeared in magazines such as De Groene Amsterdammer and Flash Art. For a sample of her publications, please visit her personal website: http://catherinesomze.net/