Bio
Ligia Popławska (b. 1994, Poland) is a visual artist currently based in Antwerp, Belgium. She graduated with MFA in Photography from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp (2020) and BA in Art History from the University of Gdańsk (2016). Her work focuses on the topics of environmental change and sensory ecology. She researches the parallels between senses, memory and emotional states, in the changing conditions of the (Post) Anthropocene.
Her work has been selected for international awards, festivals, exhibitions and photography platforms such as .TIFF 2022 (FOMU), Futures Photography, PhMuseum Days 2021, Helsinki Photo Festival, Belfast Photo Festival, InCadaqués International Photo Festival, among others. She is a receipent of Photography Prize funded by the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp (2020). Her project ‘Fading Senses’ has been awarded 1st prize Decade of Change Series Award 2022, a global photography award and collaborative exhibition by 1854 British Journal of Photography, dedicated to documenting the defining matter of our time: the climate crisis.
Ligia works as a freelance photographer in the field of product, interior, architecture, fashion and portrait photography, as well as a photo editor and academic teacher. In 2021-2022 she has been co-creating platform Intimate Structures.
Her work has been selected for international awards, festivals, exhibitions and photography platforms such as .TIFF 2022 (FOMU), Futures Photography, PhMuseum Days 2021, Helsinki Photo Festival, Belfast Photo Festival, InCadaqués International Photo Festival, among others. She is a receipent of Photography Prize funded by the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp (2020). Her project ‘Fading Senses’ has been awarded 1st prize Decade of Change Series Award 2022, a global photography award and collaborative exhibition by 1854 British Journal of Photography, dedicated to documenting the defining matter of our time: the climate crisis.
Ligia works as a freelance photographer in the field of product, interior, architecture, fashion and portrait photography, as well as a photo editor and academic teacher. In 2021-2022 she has been co-creating platform Intimate Structures.
Contact
Awards / Prize
2022 1st Prize Winner of Decade of Change Series Award 2022, 1854 British Journal of Photography (exhibitions at Belfast Photo Festival and InCadaques International Photo Festival)
2022 Selected for Helsinki Photo Festival
2022 Futures Photography, FOMU Fotomuseum Antwerpen/Creative Europe, Finalist
2022 Laureate of .TIFF program - Emerging Belgian Photography, FOMU Fotomuseum Antwerpen
2021 1st Prize Winner PhMuseum Days 2021, PhMuseum
2020 Recipient of Prijs Fotografie, Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp
2022 Selected for Helsinki Photo Festival
2022 Futures Photography, FOMU Fotomuseum Antwerpen/Creative Europe, Finalist
2022 Laureate of .TIFF program - Emerging Belgian Photography, FOMU Fotomuseum Antwerpen
2021 1st Prize Winner PhMuseum Days 2021, PhMuseum
2020 Recipient of Prijs Fotografie, Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp
Current and upcoming exhibitions
Decade of Change
1854 British Journal of Photography
Belfast Photo Festival
City Quays Gallery
Belfast, Northern Ireland
2 June ― 4 September 2022
.tiff Emerging Belgian Photography
FOMU Fotomuseum Antwerp
Antwerp, Belgium
24 June ― 28 August 2022
Believe
Kansallismuseo, The National Museum of Finland
Helsinki Photo Festival
Helsinki, Finland
7 July ― 2 October 2022
.tiff Emerging Belgian Photography
De Brakke Grond
during UNSEEN
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
17 September ― 2 October 2022
Decade of Change
InCadaqués International Photo Festival
Cadaqués, Catalonia, Spain
29 September ― 9 October 2022
1854 British Journal of Photography
Belfast Photo Festival
City Quays Gallery
Belfast, Northern Ireland
2 June ― 4 September 2022
.tiff Emerging Belgian Photography
FOMU Fotomuseum Antwerp
Antwerp, Belgium
24 June ― 28 August 2022
Believe
Kansallismuseo, The National Museum of Finland
Helsinki Photo Festival
Helsinki, Finland
7 July ― 2 October 2022
.tiff Emerging Belgian Photography
De Brakke Grond
during UNSEEN
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
17 September ― 2 October 2022
Decade of Change
InCadaqués International Photo Festival
Cadaqués, Catalonia, Spain
29 September ― 9 October 2022
Exhibitions Archive
Solo
2021: ‘Fading Senses’ ― PhMuseum Days 2021, Dumbo, Bologna, IT
2020: ‘Fading Senses’ ― St. Vincents/To Be Antwerp, Antwerp, BE
2020: ‘Fading Senses’ ― Marcel Nies Gallery/To Be Antwerp, Antwerp, BE
Group
2021: ‘Rethinking Nature’ ― Foto Wien/European Month of Photography, Vienna, AUT
2021: ‘CONNECTED’ ― Current Obsession, Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Antwerp, BE
2021: ‘Rethinking Nature’ ― Imago Lisboa/European Month of Photography, Lisbon, PT
2021: ‘NEXUS’ ― XLVI Space, Photo Open Up, Padua, IT
2021: ‘Rethinking Nature’ ― Casino Luxemberg, European Month of Photography, LUX
2020: New Talents 2020 ― Photographic Exploration Project, B-Part Gallery, Berlin, DE
2020: Blume! ― Masters Expo 2020, FOMU, Antwerp, BE
2020: Masters Expo, De Lange Zaal, Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp, BE
2020: The Billboard Project: De Quarantaine Editie ― Antwerp, BE
2020: Solo Show ― Oude Beurs, Antwerp, BE
2019: End Season ― 3BA Graduation Show, Antwerp, BE
2018: Missing Mathilde: On the Representation of Women in Public Space ― Antwerp, BE
2018: Reverberate ― Wintertuin, Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp, BE
Teaching
Photography course (1BA―MA) at the Department Jewellery Design & Gold- and silversmithing, Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp (2021―2022)
Lectures
September 2021: ‘What happens if we lose our senses? Ligia Popławska talks about Solastalgia’ ― PhMuseum Days 2021, Bologna (2021)
November 2020: ‘Visual Storytelling Beyond Anthropocene: Geert Goiris and ‘World Without Us’’ ― Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp (2020)
November 2020: ‘Visual Storytelling Beyond Anthropocene: Geert Goiris and ‘World Without Us’’ ― Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp (2020)
Press
2022: 1854 British Journal of Photography ― Decade of Change 2022: The Winners
2022: 1854 British Journal of Photography ― Winners Decade of Change 2022 Photography Awards
2022: .TIFF Emerging Belgian Photography ― FOMU Fotomuseum Antwerpen
2022: PhMuseum ― Ligia Popławska On Exhibiting at the PhMuseum Days︎︎︎
2021: C 41 Magazine ― Ligia Popławska explains solastalgia and sensory deprivation︎︎︎
2021: 1854 British Journal of Photography ― Identities, realities, and space: XLVI launches a graduate exhibition︎︎︎
2021: PhMuseum Days ― Fading Senses︎︎︎
2021: PhMuseum ― Fabiola Cedillo, Ligia Poplawska and Samuel Fordham Will Exhibit at PhMuseum Days 2021︎︎︎
2021: PhMuseum ― PhMuseum Days 2021 Open Call Winners Announced︎︎︎
2021: Decalogue Magazine ― Ligia Popławska︎︎︎
2020: PhMuseum ― Picks 2020: PhMuseum Editors’ Top Projects of 2020, PhMuseum︎︎︎
2020: New Talents 2020 ― Photographic Exploration Project, B-Part Gallery Berlin/Print
2020: Subbacultcha ― He(art) IV/Print
2020: Desired Spaces ― Future Scenarios for an (Un-)Build Environment: Spaces of Seclusion and Collectiveness, Desired Spaces︎︎︎
2022: 1854 British Journal of Photography ― Winners Decade of Change 2022 Photography Awards
2022: .TIFF Emerging Belgian Photography ― FOMU Fotomuseum Antwerpen
2022: PhMuseum ― Ligia Popławska On Exhibiting at the PhMuseum Days︎︎︎
2021: C 41 Magazine ― Ligia Popławska explains solastalgia and sensory deprivation︎︎︎
2021: 1854 British Journal of Photography ― Identities, realities, and space: XLVI launches a graduate exhibition︎︎︎
2021: PhMuseum Days ― Fading Senses︎︎︎
2021: PhMuseum ― Fabiola Cedillo, Ligia Poplawska and Samuel Fordham Will Exhibit at PhMuseum Days 2021︎︎︎
2021: PhMuseum ― PhMuseum Days 2021 Open Call Winners Announced︎︎︎
2021: Decalogue Magazine ― Ligia Popławska︎︎︎
2020: PhMuseum ― Picks 2020: PhMuseum Editors’ Top Projects of 2020, PhMuseum︎︎︎
2020: New Talents 2020 ― Photographic Exploration Project, B-Part Gallery Berlin/Print
2020: Subbacultcha ― He(art) IV/Print
2020: Desired Spaces ― Future Scenarios for an (Un-)Build Environment: Spaces of Seclusion and Collectiveness, Desired Spaces︎︎︎
Publications / Features
1 Granary︎︎︎, 1854 BJP︎︎︎, AD Architectural Digest, Art Viewer, C 41 Magazine︎︎︎ , Collater︎︎︎, Current Obsession︎︎︎, DAMN Magazine, Decalogue Magazine︎︎︎, Desired Spaces︎︎︎, De Standaard, De Witte Raaf, Frizzi Frizzi︎︎︎, HART, HYPEBEAST, I-D Vice︎︎︎, Ideat China, PhMuseum, PhMuseum Days︎︎︎, Photographic Exploration Project︎︎︎, RUM, Subbacultcha︎︎︎, Superfuture, The Design Edit, To Be Antwerp︎︎︎, VOGUE Italia, Yellow Trace, Zero︎︎︎
Clients
Acrai, Aeduire, Base Alpha Gallery, Context, didu, fivetimesone, Gent University, Graanmarkt 13, Libraryman, Martha, Paf Atelier, Priss Niinikoski, St.Vincents, Somekind Studio, Valerie Traan Gallery, Vincent Thurstein, Woche