Yaniya Lee is the author of Selected Writing on Black Canadian Art (2024, figure ground/Art Metropole) and Buseje Bailey: Reasons Why We Have to Disappear Every Once in a While, A Black Art History Project (2024, Artexte).

In 2025, Lee received her PhD in Gender Studies from Queen's University for her portfolio project “Black Art Study: Methods and Methodologies for a Black Studies Approach to Canadian Art History.” Among the projects she developed are the Black Canadian Art History Scholarship Database (blackartstudy.ca) and Doing the Work: Selected Syllabi (greyzonepedagogies.com).

She has published in journals and magazines including Racar: Canadian Art Review, C Magazine, Flash Art, Montez Press, and Asia Art Archive. In 2020 she co-edited a special issue of Canadian Art magazine on black artists and black art histories.

︎  yaniya@yahoo.com








2025

“Image War on Reality,”  curated video program for 2025 MOMENTA Biennale, based on catalogue essay
--Montreal screening + Q & A: October 29th, 6pm at Cinéma du Musée
--Kingston screening + writing workshop: November 3rd, 6pm at The Screening Room 

“Medicine for a Nightmare,” essay in accompaniment of Raneece Buddan, AJA Louden, Garfield Morgan, and Elsa Robinson’s group exchibition New Routes: threads across space and time

at the Mitchell Art Gallery, Edmonton, Alberta (forthcoming)

Selected Writing on Black Canadian Art, book launch and conversation with Edna Bonhomme, Hopscotch Books, Berlin, Germany

Selected Writing on Black Canadian Art, book launch and conversation with Christina Battle, Magpie Books, Edmonton, Alberta

“New Methods for Black Canadian Art History,” public talk at the Mitchell Art Gallery, Edmonton, Alberta

“A Question of Power,” interview with Onyeka Igwe, Tate Etc. magazine, fall

“We Don’t Need Images What It Feels Like Is Good Enough,” catalogue essay for the 2025 MOMENTA Biennale d’art contemporain: In Praise of the Missing Image, Montreal, fall

“Wynter’s Toolbox: Notes from Artists and Scholars,” presented at the Sylvia Wynter and the Scales of the Human Symposium, ICI Berlin, summer

Buseje Bailey. Reasons Why We Have to Disappear Every Once in a While. A Black art history project by Yaniya Lee, Book Launch at Modern Fuel artist-run centre, Kingston, Ontario, Canada, summer

“An Artist Subverting Propaganda Through Large-Scale Sculptures,” interview with Sandra Poulson for Solo Show in The New York Times Style Magazine, spring

“Three of Dawoud Bey’s Favorite Artworks” for Solo Show in The New York Times Style Magazine, spring

“The Historical Entanglements of Hemel,” exhibition text to accompany Danielle Dean’s film Hemel, presented at Spike Island, Bristol, spring,  2025 and Mercer Union Gallery, Toronto, spring, 2024



2024

“Flood the World — Alvin Ailey,” and interview with curator Adrienne Edwards in JustSmile Magazine Issue 5, winter 

“Some Other Shore,” exhibition text to accompany Racquel Rowe’s exhibition The Centre of the World Was the Beach exhibition at Forest City Gallery, London, winter

“Sugar – fragments of a narrative,” text to accompany Burnt Sugar, a group exhibition  at Critical Distance Centre for Curators, fall 

“Lyrical Theorising,” a profile of Alien Daughters Walk Into the Sun author Jackie Wang in Like a Fever for Asia Art Archive, summer

“Index,” with NourbeSe Philip, text in accompaniment of “A Smile Split by the Stars, An Experiment by Katherine McKittrick” at Gallery 44, Toronto, spring 

“What does the land know?” curated program of short films, commissioned by Videographe and presented at Dazibao, Montreal, spring

“Methylene Blue,”  text to accompany “New Paintings,” exhibition by Systems Research Group and Romain Löser at Guts Annexe, Berlin

“A Modern, Tragic Portrait of the Sea,” interview with Wardell Milan for On View in The New York Times Style Magazine  

“The Black Artist,” reading at Bobshop, Berlin