Kinga Araya was born and raised in Poland. During the summer of 1988, while on a student trip, she literally walked away from Poland, defecting in Florence, Italy. She came to Canada in February 1990 where she continued her undergraduate studies in Art History and Studio Arts at the University of Ottawa; subsequently, she completed her Master of Fine Arts at York University in Toronto (1998) and doctoral studies in the Special Individualized Program at Concordia University in Montréal (2004).
Kinga Araya showed her interdisciplinary artworks in numerous national and international solo and group art exhibitions, film, video and performance art festivals in Canada, USA, Poland, England, Yugoslavia, Italy, France, Spain, and Australia.
In the Spring, 2003 Kinga Araya completed her international touring project entitled Hybris. It marked her first artistic retrospective involving four solo art shows at Galerie Christiane Chassay in Montréal, Biala and Kont Galleries in Lublin, Gallery BWA in Bielsko-Biala, Gallery Kronika in Bytom, and The Zacheta Gallery of Art in Warsaw, Poland. Most of the art shows were accompanied by specially prepared art performances and lectures.
Kinga Araya is a recipient of numerous fellowships and awards. Of the most notable are: Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia (2006-2007); SSHRC doctoral fellowship, (highlighted in the annual Rector’s Report from 2000-2001); Concordia University External Grant Holder Doctoral Scholarship (2000-2001); Recherche et création: Bourse B from Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec (2001-2002); Rector’s Cabinet Special Funding, Concordia University (2002), Renata Hornstein Graduate Fellowship in Recognition of Superior Academic Achievement (2003); Concordia University Retired Faculty and Staff Graduate Award in Recognition of Superior Academic Achievement (2003); and another Recherche et création: Bourse B from Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec (2005-2006), amongst others.