Bjorn Blakstad is an artist curator working with artist archives and queer heritage.

Bjorn holds a Masters in Curatorial Practice in Contemporary Art (2026), and BA (Hons) in Painting and Printmaking (2025) from the Glasgow School of Art. He is an independent curator currently working with The Arc, Winchester, a member on the GSA Archives and Collections Advisory Group, and a volunteer for OurStory Scotland.

Bjorns curatorial work is best described as creating systems to examine and expose the relationships within the subjects he explores, whether through interactive exhibitions (Ballroom of Memory) open call prompts (INDEX 2.0) or interview and publication (Collections of Collections).

His research explores archival, collection and history making impulses in contemporary art and queer communities, reflected in his multiple curatorial projects involving family archives, artist collections and social practice ephemera.

Bjorn designs, tests and records systems (spreadsheets, information architecture, cloud management, workflows, questionaires, interview questions, workshops and participatory research) for gathering, managing and interpreting information on how collections, archives and record making affect memory, history and creative practice.

His workshops are designed and delivered with accessibility and itteration in mind, using low cost readily available materials, repeatable lightweight systems and inbuilt archival preparation. His workshops are intended to act as frameworks to be adapted and repeated, all with a goal to record and engage in lost or fading memory.

Most recently he delivered a workshop for OurStory Scotland and Tramway as part of the public program curated by Steven Grainger celebrating and activating the display of the UK AIDs Quilt. The day long drop-in invited visitors to the quilt, to map their experiences and memories of HIV and AIDs in Glasgow along a timeline and map, and share oral histories of the same. The resulting map and timeline will be archived with OurStory Scotland for future research, and be iterated on and added to during future workshops.

Bjorn also works in the GSA Library, contributing to workshop delivery, designing and cataloguing book displays, and curating events and exhibitions, programmes to bring student work into the library and encourage student intervention. He is also involved in the creation of the digital dissertation archive and document scanning and processing for academic research.

Bjorn has worked with several archives and built a diverse and dynamic understanding of how to navigate their interpretation, curation and creation. Beginning with the recipt of the contents of his late grandmothers studio in 2023, Bjorn has since chosen to undertake projects involving engagement with archives in order to learn more the effects of memory, loss, and inherited cultural history through social record and radical action.

He has conducted research with OurStory Scotland, Tramway and more, working with the Lothian Health Board archives, Glasgow Womens Library, Transmission archives, and the Glasgow School of Art special collections.

Prior to studying at the GSA Bjorn had an early career as a project manager for a humanitarian financial technology company Hiveonline ApS, and enjoyed may years in the service industry, most notably spending two and a half years happily behind the bar, designing merch and in the box office of Stereo CIC in Glasgow city centre, a historic venue for music, queer club nights and art school events.

He also occasionally plays DnD, when time allows.

Education

MLitt Curatorial Practice
Glasgow School of Art
25/26

BA (Hons) Painting & Printmaking
Glasgow School of Art
22/25

HND Contemporary Art Practice
Glasgow Clyde College
20/22

EXPERIENCE

Library User Support Assistant
Glasgow School of Art
25/pres

Gallery Assistant Patricia Fleming Gallery
26/pres

GSA Archives and Collections Advisory Group
Glasgow School of Art
26/29

VOLUNTEERING AND INTERNSHIPS

Archive Volunteer
OurStory Scotland
24 /pres

Exhibitions Intern
Tramway/GSA, Glasgow
25/26

Volenteer Curator
The Arc, Winchester
23/27

OTHER

Front of House
Stereo CIC
23/25

Illustrator & Launch Coordinator
Erebus Society
20/21

Project Manager
hiveonline ApS
18/19

(upcoming)

GSA POSTGRAD SHOWCASE (external link)

(external link)

GSA POSTGRAD SHOWCASE
(external link)