Işın Önol is working as an independent curator and educator in New York and Vienna. She holds an MFA from Sabancı University, a MAS from Zürich University of the Arts.

Önol's curatorial research focuses on interconnecting archival information with oral histories to create platforms for collective memory through collaborative art practices. She worked as a director and curotor at the Elgiz Museum of Contemporary Art Istanbul between 2006 and 2009. She served as a lecturer at Montclair State University, Department of Art and Design for five years. Önol is co-founder and director of the Nesin Art Village, an independent art school in Turkey. She has been elected twice among the Board of Directors of Roberto Cimetta Fund for the periods of 2018-2021 and 2021-2024.

Işın Önol is currently a PhD candidate at the University of Applied Arts, Vienna and a guest professor and curator at the same university for 2022-2023. She is a research scholar at the Center for the Study of Social Difference at Columbia University and a PhD candidate 

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