Bio
Ligia Popławska is a visual artist and photographer 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, Helsinki Photo Festival, among others. She is a receipent of Photography Prize funded by the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp (2020). In 2021 her project ‘Fading Senses’ has been awarded a solo exhibition at PhMuseum Days 2021 in Bologna, Italy. She is a recipient of 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 photographer in the field of product, architecture, fashion and portrait photography, as well as a photo editor and guest teacher at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp. 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, Helsinki Photo Festival, among others. She is a receipent of Photography Prize funded by the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp (2020). In 2021 her project ‘Fading Senses’ has been awarded a solo exhibition at PhMuseum Days 2021 in Bologna, Italy. She is a recipient of 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 photographer in the field of product, architecture, fashion and portrait photography, as well as a photo editor and guest teacher at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp. In 2021-2022 she has been co-creating platform Intimate Structures.
Education
2019-2020 Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp, MA in Visual Arts, Photography, Antwerp (BE)
2016-2019 Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp, BA in Visual Arts, Photography, Antwerp (BE)
2013-2016 University of Gdańsk, BA of Arts, Art History, Gdańsk (PL)
2016-2019 Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp, BA in Visual Arts, Photography, Antwerp (BE)
2013-2016 University of Gdańsk, BA of Arts, Art History, Gdańsk (PL)
Awards / Grants
2022 Flemish Government, ‘Emerging Talent’ Grant, Winner
2022 1854 British Journal of Photography, Decade of Change Series Award 2022, Winner (1st Prize)
2022 Helsinki Photo Festival, Finalist
2022 FUTURES Photography Talent, nominated by FOMU Fotomuseum Antwerpen
2022 FOMU Photo Museum Antwerp, .tiff 2022 - Emerging Belgian Photography, Finalist
2021 PhMuseum Days 2021, PhMuseum, Winner
2020 Photographic Exploration Project, New Talents 2020, Finalist
2020 To Be Antwerp, Finalist
2020 Prijs Fotografie, Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp, Winner
2022 1854 British Journal of Photography, Decade of Change Series Award 2022, Winner (1st Prize)
2022 Helsinki Photo Festival, Finalist
2022 FUTURES Photography Talent, nominated by FOMU Fotomuseum Antwerpen
2022 FOMU Photo Museum Antwerp, .tiff 2022 - Emerging Belgian Photography, Finalist
2021 PhMuseum Days 2021, PhMuseum, Winner
2020 Photographic Exploration Project, New Talents 2020, Finalist
2020 To Be Antwerp, Finalist
2020 Prijs Fotografie, Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp, Winner
Lectures
2022: British Journal of Photography 1854, New Narratives. Decade of Change: Documenting the Climate Crisis hosted by Zoe Harrison (online on YouTube)
2021: ‘What happens if we lose our senses? Ligia Popławska talks about Solastalgia’, PhMuseum Days 2021, Bologna, Italy (2021)
2020: ‘Visual Storytelling Beyond Anthropocene: Geert Goiris and ‘World Without Us’’, Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp, Belgium (2020)
2021: ‘What happens if we lose our senses? Ligia Popławska talks about Solastalgia’, PhMuseum Days 2021, Bologna, Italy (2021)
2020: ‘Visual Storytelling Beyond Anthropocene: Geert Goiris and ‘World Without Us’’, Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp, Belgium (2020)
Exhibitions
Solo
2021: ‘Fading Senses’ ― PhMuseum Days 2021 International Photography Festival, Bologna (IT)
2020: ‘Fading Senses’ ― St. Vincents/To Be Antwerp, Antwerp (BE)
2020: ‘Fading Senses’ ― Marcel Nies Gallery/To Be Antwerp, Antwerp (BE)
Group
2022: ‘Decade of Change’ ― 1854 British Journal of Photography, InCadaqués International Photo Festival, Cadaqués (ES)
2022: ‘.tiff 2022 - Emerging Belgian Photography’ ― De Brakke Grond, Amsterdam (NL)
2022: ‘Believe’ ― Helsinki Photo Festival, The National Museum of Finland (FI)
2022: ‘Decade of Change’ ― 1854 British Journal of Photograph, Belfast Photo Festival, City Quays Gallery, Belfast (NIR)
2022: ‘.tiff 2022 - Emerging Belgian Photography’ FOMU Fotomuseum Antwerpen (BE)
2021: ‘Rethinking Nature’ ― Foto Wien/European Month of Photography, Vienna (AT)
2021: ‘CONNECTED’ ― Current Obsession, Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Antwerp (BE)
2021: ‘Rethinking Nature’ slide show ― Imago Lisboa/European Month of Photography, Lisbon (PT)
2021: ‘NEXUS’ ― XLVI Space, Photo Open Up, Padua (IT)
2021: ‘Rethinking Nature’ slide show ― 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 2020’, 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)
Print
2022: FUTURES Photography ― Futures Annual Publication
2022: FOMU FotoMuseum Antwerp ― .tiff 2022 magazine
2020: Photographic Exploration Project ― New Talents 2020
2020: Subbacultcha ― He(art) IV/Print
Online
2022: Velvet Eyes ― Fading Senses by Ligia Popławska (interview)
2022: De Brakke Grond Amsterdam ― Experts Talking: Kaat Somers
2022: De Brakke Grond Amsterdam ― .TIFF 2022
2022: Sound of Life ― 10 Young Photographers To Keep An Eye On
2022: Belfast Photo Festival ― Decade of Change
2022: Helsinki Photo Festival ― Winners Open Call ‘Believe’
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: FOMU Fotomuseum Antwerpen ― .TIFF 2022 Emerging Belgian Photography
2022: PhMuseum ― Ligia Popławska On Exhibiting at the PhMuseum Days
2021: C 41 Magazine ― Ligia Popławska explains solastalgia and sensory deprivation
2021: 1854 British Journal of Photography ― Identities, realities, and space: XLVI launches a graduate exhibition
2021: PhMuseum Days ― Fading Senses
2021: PhMuseum ― Fabiola Cedillo, Ligia Poplawska and Samuel Fordham Will Exhibit at PhMuseum Days 2021
2021: PhMuseum ― PhMuseum Days 2021 Open Call Winners Announced
2021: Decalogue Magazine ― Ligia Popławska
2020: PhMuseum ― Picks 2020: PhMuseum Editors’ Top Projects of 2020, PhMuseum
2020: Desired Spaces ― Future Scenarios for an (Un-)Build Environment: Spaces of Seclusion and Collectiveness, Desired Spaces
2022: FUTURES Photography ― Futures Annual Publication
2022: FOMU FotoMuseum Antwerp ― .tiff 2022 magazine
2020: Photographic Exploration Project ― New Talents 2020
2020: Subbacultcha ― He(art) IV/Print
Online
2022: Velvet Eyes ― Fading Senses by Ligia Popławska (interview)
2022: De Brakke Grond Amsterdam ― Experts Talking: Kaat Somers
2022: De Brakke Grond Amsterdam ― .TIFF 2022
2022: Sound of Life ― 10 Young Photographers To Keep An Eye On
2022: Belfast Photo Festival ― Decade of Change
2022: Helsinki Photo Festival ― Winners Open Call ‘Believe’
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: FOMU Fotomuseum Antwerpen ― .TIFF 2022 Emerging Belgian Photography
2022: PhMuseum ― Ligia Popławska On Exhibiting at the PhMuseum Days
2021: C 41 Magazine ― Ligia Popławska explains solastalgia and sensory deprivation
2021: 1854 British Journal of Photography ― Identities, realities, and space: XLVI launches a graduate exhibition
2021: PhMuseum Days ― Fading Senses
2021: PhMuseum ― Fabiola Cedillo, Ligia Poplawska and Samuel Fordham Will Exhibit at PhMuseum Days 2021
2021: PhMuseum ― PhMuseum Days 2021 Open Call Winners Announced
2021: Decalogue Magazine ― Ligia Popławska
2020: PhMuseum ― Picks 2020: PhMuseum Editors’ Top Projects of 2020, PhMuseum
2020: Desired Spaces ― Future Scenarios for an (Un-)Build Environment: Spaces of Seclusion and Collectiveness, Desired Spaces
Features
1 Granary 1854 British Journal of Photography AD Architectural Digest Art Viewer C 41 Magazine Current Obsession DAMN Magazine Decalogue Magazine Desired Spaces De Standaard De Witte Raaf Frizzi Frizzi HART HYPEBEAST I-D Vice Ideat China Leibal Milk Decoration PhMuseum PhMuseum Days Photographic Exploration Project RUM Subbacultcha Superfuture .TIFF 2022 (FOMU) The Design Edit VOGUE Italia Yellow Trace
Selected clients
Acrai Aeduire Base Alpha Gallery Context didu fivetimesone Gent University Graanmarkt 13 Libraryman Orient Express Paf Atelier St.Vincents Somekind Studio Valerie Objects Valerie Traan Gallery Woche Z33
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