Wiktoria Wojciechowska: Sparks
Tue.-Sun. 12.00–18.00
Andrij, 27, astronomy graduate. Picture taken after nine months spent in the war zone. Ukraine, March 2015. © Wiktoria Wojciechowska
Wiktoria Wojciechowska. Sparks
The motivation to begin Sparks was a desire to create a multifaceted portrait of a contemporary war. In particular, a portrait of the conflict in Ukraine, which seems to be forgotten even though it is happening in Europe. Various media are used to visualize aspects of the war, such as how it is run, how it influences the lives of ordinary people, and how it affects the environment. In this case, the center and core of the project are constructed out of encounters with the people who witness the war firsthand.
Portraits of young soldiers, created during individual conversations with each of them, form the backbone of this project. Their words show their motivations to join the fight, their will to protect their country, their doubts, their psychological problems, and their feelings of being misunderstood by society. The project also includes pieces made using different media, from documentary photography and videos to video art, collages, and installations. These artistic realizations let us confront our historical image of war with its contemporary reality. On the other side of the Sparks project is a series of narrations describing universal tales about being human, growing up, dying, or being determined by gender roles. This project, in progress since December 2014, is now in its final stage.
Wiktoria Wojciechowska is a photographer, visual artist. Winner of the Leica Oskar Barnack Newcomer Award 2015—project “Short Flashes”; La Quatrième Image Young Talents 2015 and Humanity Photo Awards 2015 in the documentary category; IPA Awards 2015—two Honorable Mentions. Her “Own place” series won the Photo Diploma Award 2013—an international photographic diploma contest. Currently completing the project “Sparks” in conflict-ridden areas in Ukraine. This ongoing project won the Portfolio Review at Krakow Photomonth 2015. Nominated for the Joop Swart Masterclass 2016. Took part in artist residencies in Reykjavik and Beijing and is the recipient of Prix de la Photographie 2016 from Fondation des Treilles.
Her works have been presented at festivals in Arles, Paris, Lille, Minsk, Bratislava, Warsaw, Ljubljana, and Niort, and published in magazines such as: British Journal of Photography, Causette, GUP, ArchivoZine, ArtPhotoMag, Gente di Fotografia, L’Oeil de la photographie, Life Framer, Wysokie Obcasy, Leica Fotografie International, Fotografia Magazine, Duży Format, FT Weekend Magazine.