MARTA BOGDAŃSKA //
Polish visual artist, photographer, filmmaker, and cultural manager based in Poland. She lived & worked in Lebanon for 8 years. Marta holds an MA in Philosophy and Diploma in Gender Studies from Warsaw University. She studied with Anton Vidokle and Jalal Toufic at Homeworkspace Programme of Ashkal Alwan association in Beirut. Graduated from Academy of Photography in Warsaw. Attended 'The School of Looking' at the Institute of Photography Fort and Open Institute at Powszechny Theater in Warsaw.
Marta's current exhibitions are "HYBRIDS: FORGING NEW REALITIES AS COUNTER-NARRATIVE" at PHOTOESPANA in Madrid (June-September 2022), "SHIFTERS" at BELFAST PHOTO FESTIVAL in Botanic Gardens in Belfast (June 2022), SHIFTERS at ATHENS PHOTO FESTIVAL in Benaki Museum (June - July 2022), and "COEXIST: LIBERTY, EQUALITY, BIODIVERSITY" at FOTOFESTIVAL ŁÓDŹ in Łódź (June 2022).
Marta is a Talent Artist of international FUTURES PHOTOGRAPHY platform, and a member of both APP - Archive of Public Protests and WOMEN PHOTOGRAPH.
In 2022 Marta's book SHIFTERS won the PHOTOESPANA Best International Photography Book of the year, and got a special mention at Polish Best Photobook of the Year! As her first photobook SHIFTERS was shortlisted for LUMA RENCONTRES ARLES DUMMY AWARD, KASSEL DUMMY AWARD, and for MACK FIRST BOOK AWARD 2020.
She won KONRAD PUSTOLA SCHOLARSHIP 2021, and was awarded SELMA LAGERLöF SOCIETY's SCHOLARSHIP for her project LOVE THAT DARE NOT SPEAK ITS NAME. Together with ARCHIVE OF PUBLIC PROTESTS (APP) and 5 other artists she won the latest edition of SPOJRZENIA / VIEWS 2021 AWARD and was nominated for PASZPORTY POLITYKI AWARD 2021.
As a winner of Photo-Match 2020 organised by Fotofestival Łódź & Kraków Photomonth she had a solo exhibition at Kraków Photomonth 2021. As a Winner of PIX.HOUSE Talent of the Year 2020 contest she made PLAINTEXT zine.
She is an author of documentary films: UNICORN, IN-BETWEEN and NEXT SUNDAY, and several video essays: YOU TEACH ME TO BE FREE, SHIFTERS, & PLAINTEXT-WAVE.
Marta's work has been shown at BELFAST PHOTO FESTIVAL, ATHENS PHOTO FESTIVAL, PHOTOESPANA, FOTOFESTIVAL ŁÓDŹ, CIRULATION(S) IN PARIS, PHOTOLUX FESTIVAL, FORT Institute of Photography, MELKWEG EXPO, BARQ Film Festival, Batroun Mediterranean Film Festival, CINETEKTON Film Festival, Moscow International Design Film Festival, the Architecture Film Festival Rotterdam, Milano Design Film Festival, BLICA - Lebanese International Biennale for Cinema and the Arts, TIFF Festival in Wrocław, Art Market Budapest, Odessa Photo Days, Encontros da Imagem in Braga, Imago Lisboa Photo Festival, FIF - International Festival of Photography of Belo Horizonte, OBSCURA Festival of Photography in Malaysia, the Sursock Museum in Beirut, Landskrona Foto in Sweden, Lokal_30 gallery, Studio Gallery in Warsaw, and the Labyrinth Gallery in Lublin.
Marta was awarded numerous art residencies and grants: FRESH A.I.R. Berlin artist residency (2022), Heinrich Boell Foundation grants for Exilium and Mixed Feelings projects, LAIMUN Residency Berlin, OSIEDLE JAZDÓW RESIDENCY in Warsaw with an experimental sound project ROZDŹWIĘKI I JAZGOTY, LANDSKRONA FOTO RESIDENCY in Sweden, Nida Art Colony in Lithuania, Gasworks in London and Botkyrka Konsthal in Stockholm, and Adam Mickiewicz Institute art grants. She took part in Re-Tooling Residencies Project organised by CCA Warsaw. She was selected for workshops: Photography Workshop with Vanessa Winship at Jednostka gallery in Warsaw (2018); Thinking Books at Archeology of Photography Foundation in Warsaw (2014), Sensibilities, Experiences: Going Beyond the Surface photography workshop with Laurence Leblanc in Ashkal Alwan in Beirut (2012); Beirut Every other Day. As Long As I'm Walking... with Francis Al?s at 98weeks Project in Beirut (2010). She created & curated Fenix Cities, a combination of workshops and exhibitions for Lebanese and Polish artists and cultural promoters that introduced contemporary Lebanese art to a Polish audience and contemporary Polish art to a Lebanese one.
Marta's artistic interests follow on one hand social and political issues, creation of new narratives and retelling of histories, on the other hand she works with the notions of chance and absurdity, the ironic and comic. She traces anecdotes, jokes, personal stories and develops them into projects that delve into the world of gossip, fictions, politics & multiple realities. She is interested in emotional creation of & response to artwork. She works with landscapes, contexts, and the boring & mundane of our everyday, which can open up new readings & access the hidden or magical. Marta works in various media (photography, video, sound, text etc.) and genres, depending on her project. She cherishes collaborations and participatory approach. She is also interested in public space and access to it.
Member of
WOMEN PHOTOGRAPH
FUTURES PHOTOGRAPHY
ARCHIVE OF PUBLIC PROTESTS
Marta's work and projects have been published in: British Journal of Photography, FOAM, Contemporary LYNX, GUP, The Calvert Journal, Vogue Poland, Fisheye Magazine, Society, Why Now?, Yogurt Magazine, Archivo Platform, Punto De Fuga Paris - Bogota, The Guardian, 9lives Magazine, France Culture, Arte Trax, El Diario, SZUM Magazine, Tygodnik Powszechny, NOIZZ, Przekrój, Dwutygodnik, Notes na 6 Tygodni, and others.
This is Marta's Vimeo channel
and Photojournalism website.
And INSTAGRAM.
