The artists nominated by
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.
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.
Hiep Duong Chi (b. 1996), who holds a BA from the Institute of Creative Photography in Opava, was born in Děčín, Czechia. Photography formed part of his life from the very beginning; his grandfather ran a photography studio in Vinh, Vietnam, where his mother took photographs before she moved to the Czech Republic in the 1990s. His own work began along the lines of classic documentary photography, exploring notions of family, the Vietnamese community, or following events that caught his attention. During the pandemic, the artist instead began arranging, staging and creating still-lifes and portraits. In this new work, he touches on the realities of life as a second-generation Vietnamese immigrant – That time I wished I was a white butterfly combines references to traditional customs with his own inner feelings.
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.
Michał Patycki (b. 1995) is a Polish visual artist based in Czechia. He holds a BA in Creative Photography from the Silesian University in Opava. In his artistic practice, Patycki often applies both photography and other forms of visual art. Photography gives him the opportunity to approach unknown realities, which he can work through with the resulting image. The strength of his work comes first and foremost from its authenticity; each subject he tackles is examined thoroughly through in-depth research – searching in each instance for a suitable method of self-expression. Patycki often works with photographic archives, and plays with stories that may or may not have happened at all. His works have been exhibited in Poland and abroad.
Noémi Szécsi (b. 1998) is a half-Hungarian, half-Romanian photographer, currently living in Budapest. She studied photography at the Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design in Budapest, from which she holds an MA. A member of the Studio of Young Photographers, Hungary, Szécsi’s projects are centred on specific groups of people living on the margins of society – from gravediggers to far-right protesters, to the witches she is currently working with. Her conviction is that the medium of photography offers no universal truths, but it does maintain a mediating and sensitising power. For the artist, the camera is a passport to the places where she interacts with people, allowing her to experience these different positions.
Veronika Čechmánková is a Czech photographer and mixed-media artist based in Prague. She focuses primarily on the transformation of symbols and traditions over time, and their possible meanings in the present. Taking pieces of visual and cultural history, she examines their validity and possibilities in a contemporary context. Čechmánková studied at the Studio of Photography and New Media at FAMU – Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, Czechia. Her work has been exhibited in a range of institutions, including the Center for Contemporary Art FUTURA, Prague; Karlín Studios, Prague; Studio Vortex, Arles; and the BF Artist Film Festival, London.
