Daniel Brena

Biography

Daniel Brena (Oaxaca, 1982) is a curator, writer, and cultural manager whose academic background and professional practice connect heritage techniques with contemporary art and design. He studied Art History and Linguistics at UCLA and completed a museum studies internship at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice in 2006. Upon returning to Mexico, he served as Arts Coordinator at the Centro de las Artes de San Agustín (CaSa) and later as Director of the Centro Fotográfico Manuel Álvarez Bravo (2011–2016). Since 2016, he has led CaSa—an institution founded by artist Francisco Toledo.

At the CFMAB, Brena presented exhibitions of renowned photographers such as Antoine D’Agata, Charles Harbutt, Joan Liftin, and Mary Ellen Mark. He expanded the center’s educational outreach to communities across Oaxaca and launched Colección en Vivo, a program in which scholars taught directly from original prints in the Toledo Photographic Collection, establishing a unique, object-based learning model.

At CaSa, his leadership has focused on weaving together heritage techniques and contemporary practices, expanding international collaborations, and consolidating Premios CaSa as Mexico’s most important literary prize in Indigenous languages. Under his direction, the center has hosted exhibitions by artists such as William Kentridge, Alfredo Jaar, Dexter Dalwood, and Graciela Iturbide. His curatorial work frequently draws from the Toledo Collection, including exhibitions centered on the artist’s prints and a focused show on Mary Ellen Mark, exploring themes of memory, place, and social engagement.

Daniel Brena, Director of Centro de las Artes de San Agustín (CaSa) in Oaxaca de Juárez, Mexico, has been awarded by Aimée Labarrere de Servitje & Eloisa Haudenschild.