Ben Cranfield

Ben Cranfield is an academic and curator affiliated with the Royal College of Art's School of Arts & Humanities. He previously lectured at Birkbeck, University of London for over eight years, focusing on curatorial theory, art institutions, and archival practices. His research explores the intersection of curatorial practices, contemporary art, and decolonial approaches.

Key collaborations include co-curating the 2016 'Conventions of Proximity' conference at Birkbeck and advising projects like the June Giovanni Pan African Cinema Archive initiative. He has contributed to journals such as Performance Research, Journal of Curatorial Studies, and Journal of Visual Culture.

• Expertise: Art & Curating
• PhD Supervision: Current students include Pablo Alvarez Fernandez, Nicola Chamberlain, and Marianne Mulvey
• External Roles: External examiner for Liverpool John Moores University and University of Galway

His work examines the curatorial’s role in reimagining archival materials through feminist, queer, and decolonial lenses, emphasizing institutional memory and post-war British art contexts.