Vanessa Selk is the Founder & Principal of Toukan-Arthouse.
As an Art Director, Vanessa Selk has been creating, producing and curating cultural programs in visual and performing arts for over 12 years. As an art advisor, she advises private, institutional and corporate clients in acquiring and exhibiting artworks or programming artistic events.
Considering her two-track educational background in political science and contemporary art (her Master's in Political Sciences at Science Po Paris completes her highly accredited professional certificates in Contemporary art at Sotheby’s Institute of Art), she notably focuses on Political and Activist Art, with a particular interest in Caribbean Contemporary Art.
She directed and produced a temporary art festival to promote Caribbean artists in the U.S., the Tout-Monde Festival (2017-2019), and founded a public charity to support Caribbean artists in 2019, the TOUT-MONDE Art FOUNDATION, dedicated to socially impactful projects focusing on Education, Ecology and Equal Rights.
Vanessa Selk's former experience as a Diplomat specializing in political and security issues in Africa as well as in human rights complements her artistic eye by always selecting politically strong artworks. She worked at the United Nations (2013-2016) on women's rights with UN Women, as well as on indigenous cultures and arts with UNESCO, before serving as Cultural Attaché/Head of the Cultural Office of the French Embassy in Florida and the Caribbean, to build art programs with artists, galleries, museums, artist residencies and other cultural institutions.
Previously, she also worked as an art consultant during art fairs or exhibitions for galleries in France and the U.S. and as a stage and artistic director of theater companies in Paris and New York from 2011-2014.
Born to a Guyanese mother and a German father, she grew up in Europe and the French Caribbean, lived and worked between North America, South America and Africa and fluently speaks five languages. This geographic heterogeneity is a key element today for her to understand the artists' background and her clients’ identity, and therefore select the most adapted art works for them.
"As an Art Director and Advisor, I now integrate my experience and passion for serving others through art, continuing my own transformational growth through this artistic journey every day. I support my clients to find their own artistic path, and encounter meaning, mindfulness and happiness through accessible and underrepresented art. My endeavour is to empower women and men through art."
