What Happened
Isabella Pirro, a third-generation member of the family behind Galería Habitante, is shaping a new curatorial approach in Panama through exhibitions that blend contemporary art, digital tools, and immersive presentation. After studying architecture and later shifting fully into curating, she has spent the last two years working in a role she says once seemed reserved for older professionals.
Her path moved from architecture studies at SCAD, in Savannah, to a master’s degree in fine arts curatorship in Nava, Italy, and then to a master’s in Digital Art for Immersive Experiences at Instituto Marangoni. That combination helped her connect traditional exhibition-making with new media, interactivity, and the growing role of technology in how audiences encounter art.
A Career Shaped by Art and Family
Pirro grew up around artworks, artists, and gallery conversations, but she did not enter curating right away. She worked in architecture at Mallol as a junior creative designer before fully committing to gallery work. Her grandmother, Vivian Sosa, founder of Galería Habitante, pushed the transition, eventually telling her to step into the role or make room for someone else.
That family link has remained central to her career. She describes the gallery as a place where knowledge, relationships, and artistic taste are passed across generations, while also adapting to a new audience that is more open to conceptual and digital work.
The Exhibitions and the Shift in Taste
At Galería Habitante, Pirro has curated exhibitions including Pro Mundi beneficio by Gabriel Wong, Arquetipos by Gennaro Rodríguez, El que mira hacia adentro by Gladys Sevillano, and the current group show Lenguajes Autónomos. The latest exhibition includes eight artists and is presented as a metaphor for artists’ visual systems, focusing on technique, color, material, rhythm, and voice.
She sees a strong rise in conceptual art and digital art in Panama, pointing to artists such as Rosendo Merel Choy, Ix Shells, and Momo Magallón as part of that movement. At the same time, she says canvases remain important in the local market, where collectors still buy traditional painting most often and younger buyers increasingly look at photography and smaller works.
What It Means for Panama’s Art Scene
Pirro’s approach reflects a broader change in Panama’s art world: galleries are no longer only spaces for hanging paintings, but places where installations, interaction, and digital presentation can shape how people remember an exhibition. She argues that curating now means entering an existing community, creating dialogue, and helping viewers connect with the meaning of the work.
That outlook has also influenced how she thinks about collaboration between artists in Panama and abroad. She points to growing ties with galleries and artists across Latin America and beyond, including exhibitions by Gennaro Rodríguez in Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Colombia, and Gabriel Wong’s work in Singapore after showing in China. For Pirro, those exchanges help keep Panama connected to a wider contemporary art network while still preserving local identity.
As a young curator, she believes the country’s art market is gradually opening to new forms without abandoning the demand for painting and collectible works. Her message to art students is simple: experiment widely, avoid closing themselves off, and keep creating even as artificial intelligence changes the larger creative conversation.