Artist
Michaela Nagyidaiová
Michaela Nagyidaiová (b. 1996) is a Slovakian photographer based in Bratislava. Her work analyses connections between landscape, memory, identity, migration, and the topographies of Central and Eastern Europe. Interested in how ideologies and political systems influence layers of personal life – and drawing inspiration from both past events and contemporary issues – Nagyidaiová works on long-term projects that combine images with text, archival material and video. She holds an MA in Photojournalism & Documentary Photography from the London College of Communication, and is a member of Women Photograph. Her Transient Ties project was exhibited at Fotograf Festival in Prague’s National Gallery, and at a series of further shows in Czechia, Slovenia and Austria. In 2021, Nagyidaiová participated in the Wolf Suschitzky Photography Prize exhibition at the Austrian Cultural Forum in London & Fotohof in Salzburg, as well as in the British Journal of Photography’s Open Walls ’21: Then and Now exhibition at Galerie Huit in Arles.
Moulding
Moulding represents a visual investigation into the transformation of countries that were formerly part of the ‘Eastern Bloc’, that have since transitioned from communism to capitalism. The work studies neglected issues within Central European society. It's a visual exploration of how current circumstances in Central & Eastern Europe affect individuals and topographies – how political apparatuses ‘mould’ the layers of everyday life in different shapes and forms. In public spaces, interventions and alterations to our surroundings are made before our eyes, though sometimes change is more concealed – in nature, for instance. Here, the featured chapter of Moulding situates itself in Slovenia, traversing between cities, small towns and rural areas. The photographs draw a line between Slovenia’s past, from a lingering ‘Yugonostalgia’ among older generations to the country’s present-day concerns; such as new environmental questions. Concerned by a controversial 2021 amendment to the water law, which was meant to allow the construction of public service infrastructure in coastal areas, activists began collecting signatures for a referendum. Experts argued that such interventions close to bodies of water could affect both water quality and availability. Changes to the water law proposed by Janez Janša's right-wing government were rejected by one of the highest voter turnouts in Slovenia’s modern history. The work emphasises matters of ‘central/eastern-futurism’, the way the EU has changed since the fall of communism, and how former ‘Eastern Bloc’ countries have been adapting to capitalism since 1989.
Michaela Nagyidaiová is a Slovak photographer whose work analyses the thorny path of transformation of Central and Eastern Europe from communism to capitalism, as well as roots and the migration of individuals. Her project Moulding is an exploration of how the current circumstances in countries that were formerly part of the ‘Eastern Bloc’ affect individuals, topography, and ideologies – and how political apparatuses ‘mould’ the layers of everyday lives in different forms.
As a second generation Vietnamese living in Czech Republic, identity is a key motive to the artist Hiep Duong Chi too. His series That time I wished I was a white butterfly deals with the symbols associated with Vietnamese culture, and how they are tested in new environments. By removing them from their original contexts, these motifs take on different meanings, pointing to the many perspectives through which they can be viewed.
Veronika Čechmánková explores the changes of symbols and traditions over time, their transformations, and possible meanings for the present. In the series Flowers are not to be picked. Flowers are to be admired, she juxtaposes the exploitation of the fashion industry with the world of flowers, ultimately highlighting how the floral aesthetic has become a spectacle of lifestyle and entertainment far removed from the natural world.
In the series See how these memories affect your water, Michał Patycki sets out to find specific situations and moods associated with intimate mental and physical experiences. In his photographs, seemingly unrelated entities intersect in compositions both melancholic and mysterious often with a slightly unsettling edge. The links implied are fragile, suggesting a mutual intimacy that holds them together, just for a while.
In the precise search for authentic and novel themes, Noémi Szécsi is consistent and exceptional. She focuses on specific groups of people who can be seen as teetering on a certain edge of a society; employees of a funeral home, far-right protesters or women intensely involved in the practice of magic. The latter, under the title it cannot rain forever, is what Noémi has been working on between Hungary and Netherland for the last two years.