About Us
At Armova Curatorial we merge community with creativity, showcasing local underrepresented voices in art while building a pipeline for representation across the globe. Our mission is to foster accessibility, equity, and excellence for all, while transforming spaces and minds with powerful exhibitions that resonate deeply for all audiences.
Art for Everyone
Meet the Team
Co-Founder / Co-Curator
Ilene Sova
Sova identifies as a mixed -race person with white settler and Afro-Caribbean ancestry. She is also an artist who lives with a disability; she passionately identifies with the tenets of intersectional feminism and has dedicated her creative career to art and activism. Ilene’s art practice focuses on equity and diversity with a feminist focus on creating a dialogue around anti-oppression. She is also heavily involved in arts advocacy, community activation, and promoting pluralism in the arts. Sova founded the Feminist Art Conference and Blank Canvases, an in-school creative arts programme for elementary school students. She holds an Honours BFA in Painting from the University of Ottawa and an MFA in Painting and Drawing from the University of Windsor. Sova is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Art at OCAD University. With extensive solo and group exhibitions in Canada and abroad, Sova’s work has most notably been shown at the Museum of Canadian Contemporary Art, the Department of Canadian Heritage, and Mutuo Centro de Arte in Barcelona
Co-Founder / Co-Curator
Byron Armstrong
Byron Armstrong is a freelance writer and award-winning journalist who writes about arts, culture, and community. His writing appears in Forbes (Arts), Esse arts + opinions, The Globe and Mail (Books), Whitehot Magazine, The National Gallery of Canada Magazine, and Arts Help. ​Byron has authored curatorial essays for the transatlantic exhibition "When the Bread They Have Cast on the Waters Comes Floating Back" at The D’Aguilar Art Foundation (Nassau, Bahamas) and United Contemporary Gallery (Toronto, Canada), as well as the retrospective show, "Barbara Moore: Life, Lessons and Legacy" at Caliban Arts Theatre. In addition, Byron edited the catalogue essay for "Ilene Sova's "UNKNOWN RELATIVE" exhibition at John B. Aird Gallery for the CONTACT Photography Festival, co-written by curator and Executive Director Carla Garnet, and the artist. He was also a juror and co-curator of John B. Aird Gallery's 2024-2025 "Portraits" online exhibition and publication.
Curatorial Projects
2026 Curator, When Angels Speak Of Love, Toronto ON.
2026 Curator, Dream Big, Art Lucaya, Grand Bahama, Bahamas
2025 Curator, Too Much Fashion, FUZE Carribean Art Fair, Nassau Bahamas
2025 Co-curator, Too Much Fashion, United Contemporary, Toronto ON.
2025 Curator, Beyond Smiles, Tackling Dental Health Care Access When Facing Intimate Partner Violence, with the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Toronto OCAD U Ada Slaight Gallery
2024, Curator, Family Matters, An Exhibition of Family Portraits, Ontario Court of Justice, Toronto ON
2024 Curator, FUZE Caribbean Art Festival OCADU Booth, Baha Mar, Nassau, Bahamas
2024 Curator, N(ArT)ture Exhibition Research N(ArT)URE: More-than-Human Inquiry Using Art and Nature to Promote Equity and Inclusion, OCAD U Ada Slaight Gallery
2024 Curator Barbara Moore Life, Lessons and Legacy, Caliban Arts Theatre
2024 Curator, Land, Humans and the Environment, Ontario Court of Justice, Toronto
2024 Curator, Connect, Studio 180 Production of Four and a Half Minutes, Tarragon Theatre, Toronto
2023 Curator, Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund, Auction and Fundraiser for Feminist Art Collective
2023 Curator, Urban Futurities, Propellor Gallery, Toronto
2022 Curator, Gathering Divergence CPAMO, Ada Slaight Gallery, OCAD U, Toronto
2020 Curator, Coordination, Pandemic: A Feminist Response, FAC, Toronto
2020 Curator, Exhibition Featuring Janina Anderson for the production of SWEAT, a Pulitzer Prize-winning play by playwright Lynn Nottage, Feminist Art Conference and Canadian Stage with Studio 180 Theatre, Toronto
2019 Curator Embracing Intersectionality. York University Department of Gender, Women, Studies and Sexuality 20th Anniversary Event
2018 Curator, Cultural Pluralism in the Arts Gathering, OCAD U University, Toronto
2015, 2016, 2017, Curator, Walnut Studios Group Exhibition, Capital One Headquarters, Toronto
2014 Curator Feminist Art Conference Exhibition, Beaver Hall Gallery, Toronto
2014 Curator, Reflective Surfaces, Creative Blueprint Gallery, Toronto
When Angels Speak Of Love - 2026
Taking its title from the last chapter of the book “Destiny: When Angels Speak of Love”, these artists will explore the ways in which true love has formed the foundation for family, their relationships to a sense of community, romantic partnerships, self-love, spirituality, and justice — or the lack thereof and its impact on them. The exhibition is more than a celebration of the hooks’ legacy, by a reminder of what connects rather divides us, not just from each other, but from our divinity.
Dream Big - Art Lucaya - 2026
Featuring over 30 artists from Grand Bahama, this exhibition brings together a wide range of practices, perspectives, and lived experiences. From emerging voices to established creators, each artist contributes to a shared creative landscape shaped by memory, culture, and everyday life.
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FUZE Art Fair - Too Much Fashion - 2025
Curated by Ilene Sova and Byron Armstrong, Too Much Fashion – An Ode to Black Creative Resilience is a group exhibition featuring the dynamic work of Ojo Agi, Benny Bing, Veronica Dorsett, Kachelle Knowles, Kriss Munsya, Ehiko Odeh, Adetona Omokanye, Janice Reid and Gordon Shadrach. The exhibition has been featured at the 2025 FUZE Caribbean Art Fair.
Too Much Fashion - United Contemporary - 2025
Curated by Ilene Sova and Byron Armstrong, Too Much Fashion – An Ode to Black Creative Resilience is a group exhibition featuring the dynamic work of Ojo Agi, Benny Bing, Veronica Dorsett, Kachelle Knowles, Kriss Munsya, Ehiko Odeh, Adetona Omokanye, Janice Reid and Gordon Shadrach.
