MEET OUR TEAM
Do Picho has a small governing Board (which will expand, including to include more local representatives) and will soon establish an “artist selection committee”. Both will include people from Galicia, Spain more broadly, and from other countries and regions. While the Board is tasked with setting the overall direction of Do Picho and ensuring the good and transparent governance of the residency and all funds raised, the committee will be in charge of calls for applications and select residents and provide overall artistic advice.
At this time, Do Picho relies entirely on the work of its Board members and the other members of the Do Picho team, an assistant and volunteers, most of whom find us through Workaway and typically stay with us between 3 weeks and 2 months.
We soon hope to be able to attract some project funding, as well as donations, to be able to employ (part-time) project staff.
We take a team approach to everything we do and include resident artists into team discussions and events.
Ralf Jürgens
FOUNDER AND CHAIR OF THE BOARD
Ralf has worked since the late 1980s to promote and protect the rights and health of the most marginalized members of society, mostly in low and low-middle income countries. In 2024, he moved to Galicia to start a new chapter of his life, seeking to combine his passion for human rights with his other passion: the arts.
Ralf was born in Germany but grew up in Milan, Italy. After studying law in Munich and Montreal and getting a master’s degree in law from McGill University and a doctorate in law from the University of Munich, he started working at the McGill Centre for Medicine, Ethics and Law in 1990 in Montreal. He soon co-founded an NGO, the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network (now called HIV Legal Network: www.hivlegalnetwork.ca) with a small group of friends. Rather than driven by an academic agenda, he wanted to be able to focus on the needs identified by those living with HIV and those most affected by it at the time in Canada – gay men, people who use drugs, sex workers, and immigrants from Haiti.
In Montreal, he also became friends with and started supporting young artists, something he has continued to do to this day. His work then took him to New York City (2012-15) and Geneva (2015-2023), where at Open Society Foundations and then the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria he sought to, for the first time in the history of the pandemics, secure massively increased funding for projects to break down the multiple barriers impeding access to prevention, care, treatment and support for the poorest, most marginalized, and often criminalized populations.
While in New York City and Geneva, he also commissioned work from young artists and made friends with a range of artists from different disciplines and different countries, and always nurtured his love of visual arts and music. As he started to think about what to do next, after retiring from his position as Senior Human Rights Coordinator at the Global Fund, he knew that he wanted to focus more on his passion for the arts. In late 2021, he bought Finca Do Picho and the adjoining buildings on a property in Palas de Rei, with the idea of converting the buildings adjoining his own residence into a residence for artists.
Arantxa Cedillo
VICE CHAIR
Arantxa Cedillo is a visual artist with over 20 years of experience working in Switzerland and internationally. She specializes in a multidisciplinary approach that combines photography, text, and video to create engaging art experiences. Her work focuses on bringing people and visual arts together in innovative ways, blending handcrafted and digital techniques.
Additionally, Cedillo has realized a body of work as communications manager, art curator, graphic designer, media trainee, book collaborator, and public speaker. Her clients include international media outlets, art galleries, international organizations, NGOs and UN organizations.
Arantxa Cedillo is also the founder of Arctype, a company where she combines her expertise in communications with her love for the arts. Her award-winning work as a visual artist has allowed her to offer unique perspectives to luxury companies looking to elevate their customer experience. She aims to cultivate an appreciation for the aesthetic qualities of photography while creating timeless works of art.
She is also Strategic Communications Advisor for the Health Diplomacy Alliance, a platform that aims at advancing health initiatives through diplomatic channels.
Santiago Concheiro
TREASURER
Santiago Concheiro Álvarez is a curator and cultural manager with a background in Art History (UNED) and International Relations (UCM). His work focuses on the intersection of art and cultural anthropology, addressing themes such as gentrification, urban transformation, and the recovery of intangible Galician heritage through contemporary culture. He served as the sponsorship coordinator for the PROYECTOR Festival in Madrid, where he played key roles in securing funding and expanding the festival for its 2023 and 2024 editions, in addition to writing curatorial texts.
His curatorial experience includes the exhibition “Miradas, gestos, pensamientos” (“Gazes, Gestures, Thoughts”) at the Casa Torre Cultural Center in Santurtzi, for which he also authored the catalog texts. Santiago has contributed cultural criticism to platforms such as A*Desk Critical Thinking in Barcelona, exploring cinema as a cultural tool and urban psychogeography, and has collaborated with institutions such as MACBA, La Casa Encendida, and TBA21. He was a guest critic at Mapamundistas 2022 and the Dart Festival in Barcelona for two editions, and participated in the research project Duelo Planetario/Duelo Colectivo at the Museo Reina Sofía, examining the concept of mourning in contemporary society.
Upon his recent return to Galicia, he played a pivotal role in the Ribeira Sacra region, coordinating cultural projects focused on rural mediation and the expansion of Galician heritage. He led the coordination of A Terra Chea, a gathering of cultural professionals in rural settings, and managed the funding and organization of the Sacra Festival 2024, strengthening the cultural fabric of the region. In 2024, he began collaborating with artist Jana Leo on a living archive about Galician emigration, aiming to shed light on a phenomenon significant in scale but underexplored in studies, with the first session held at the Luis Seoane Foundation. He recently embarked on a research endeavor as a grantee at the La Gascona Residency (Castilla-La Mancha), focusing on developing mechanisms to activate intangible Galician and Spanish heritage.
Cristina Ramos González
SECRETARY
Cristina Ramos González is a curator, writer and editor based in Asturias. Her practice is articulated through assembling exhibition mechanisms that put artistic theory into practice, and that seek to alter our sensibility with the environment around us. She is interested in the connections between new materialist theories, ecological feminist epistemologies, and phenomenologies oriented towards the corporeal.
She has started her practice in London where she created the platform “The LivingRoom” (2014-2016) with artist Sara Rodrigues which exhibited art, performance, and contemporary classical music in unusual venues. Following her interest in working site-specifically with public space, Ramos collaborated twice with the festival Art Night London showcasing the work of artists engaged in environmental matters and water ecologies. Alongside having her independent practice, she founded the artist residency “Arnis Residency” (2017-2019) with curator Christian Lübbert in a German village, as well as was co-director of “+DEDE” (2021-2022), a project-space based in Berlin together with artist Flavio Degen and curator Tristan Deschamps.
Recent projects include the film programme “From the eyes one lid”, Art Viewer (2022); and the group exhibitions “Marine Aspirations”, TACA (Palma de Mallorca, 2021) and “Being pulled all over the place”, Scan Projects (London, 2020). Her writing has been published with the Berlin-based magazine Berlin Art Link and Arts of the Working Class and A-desk, Spain.
Jaime Villar
ASSISTANT
Jaime is from the region of Ferrolterra, a place known for its shipyards and beautiful surroundings. His work at Do Picho oscillates between the smooth running of the space, the organization of events, the production with artists and the organization of excursions around the territory.
Her knowledge of the environment, history and arts of Galicia is essential to Do Picho. His passions include collecting and trading in motor parts, furniture, art and decorative arts; with a special interest in glass, porcelain and plastic arts.