September 2022

InCadaques’s new programme pushes the boundries of photographic exhibitions
- article on British Journal of Photography

“Finally, British Journal of Photography’s Decade of Change exhibition showcases and celebrates some of the world’s best climate-focused photography and is composed of images from the winners of this year’s award. Going on show only shortly after a flurry of global natural disasters, these evocative photographs take on added importance, and, set against the stunning Catalonian landscape, serve as a poignant reminder of what we stand to lose.”

September - October 2022

.tiff 2022 - Emerging Belgian Photography travels to the Flemish Cultural Center de Brakke Grond in Amsterdam!

.tiff 2022 presents the work of: Alice Pallot, Arian Christiaens, Barbara Debeuckelaere, Emile Rubino, Gülşah Ayla Bayrak, Lars Duchateau, Ligia Popławska, Rami Hara and Seppe Vancraywinkel. Curator: Kaat Somers / FOMU

June - September 2022

.tiff 2022 - Emerging Belgian Photography at FOMU Fotomuseum Antwerpen

Every year FOMU selects ten promising photographers, all living or working in Belgium. In addition to a variety of networking opportunities, FOMU accompanies them on a development journey to create the portfolio magazine .tiff, culminating in a group exhibition.

Like ‘Belgian photography’, .tiff has many angles. It gives a flavour of the diversity and energy in Belgium’s photography landscape. Using .tiff, FOMU offers emerging talent a platform to reach a wider audience and network.

In 2022, .tiff turns ten years old. Since 2018, tiff has been a part of FUTURES, a partnership between FOMU and a growing number of other European organisations. In collaboration with SOFAM and Creative Europe.

.tiff 2022 presents the work of: Alice Pallot, Arian Christiaens, Barbara Debeuckelaere, Emile Rubino, Gülşah Ayla Bayrak, Lars Duchateau, Ligia Popławska, Rami Hara and Seppe Vancraywinkel.
Curator: Kaat Somers

.tiff 2022 magazine published by FOMU Fotomuseum Antwerpen

With the work of: Alice Pallot, Arian Christiaens, Barbara Debeuckelaere, Emile Rubino, Gülşah Ayla Bayrak, Lars Duchateau, Ligia Popławska, Rami Hara and Seppe Vancraywinkel. You can find .tiff 2022 magazine (4 EUR) on www.shop.fomu.be and in the museum shop. Cover image: Alice Pallot

June 2022

NEW NARRATIVES Belfast Photo Festival x British Journal Photography⁠ - talk online hosted by Zoe Harrison

It was an honour to take part in a mini series of talks New Narratives by Belfast Photo Festival and British Journal of Photography. The talk Decade of Change: Documenting the Climate Crisis, hosted by Zoe Harrison, Head of Awards Production at 1854 Media, featured the winning artists from Decade of Change Award: Cynthia Maiwa Sitei and myself. It is available to watch online here.

May 2022

British Journal of Photography
Decade of Change 2022: The Winners

“From environmental anxiety and visions of devastation, to images confronting us with the effects of global warming upon indigenous communities, these images offer an impactful and urgent response to how our world is changing.

The winning images of this year’s Decade of Change bring the climate crisis into hyper-focus. From stories of environmental anxiety and visions of the devastation wrought by industry, to images confronting us with the effects of global warming upon indigenous communities and people with Albinism, they offer an impactful and urgent response to the ways our world is changing.

Now in its second year, Decade of Change is a global photography award and exhibition from 1854 and British Journal of Photography, conceived to harness the universal power of photography to inspire climate action. Split between three categories – series, single images and moving image – the award invited submissions from visual artists across the globe on any aspect of the climate crisis. The winning works will be exhibited at City Quays Gallery as part of Belfast Photo Festival, from 03 June to 04 September 2022.”

Ligia Popławska is one of two series winners with her project Fading Senses, which explores ‘Solastalgia’ – a term coined by environmental philosopher Glenn Albrecht in 2003 to describe a state of emotional distress produced by climate anxiety. It began during her MA in Photography at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp in 2019. “I had temporarily lost a sense of smell, and this experience transformed my sensory perception, influencing the way I perceived various layers of the photographic medium. I started researching how images can trigger other senses than vision and what happens inside a brain during sensory deprivation. At about the same time, a tornado devastated the beloved forest of my home in Northern Poland and the whole ecosystem in the area perished. Later on, I realised that I was affected by ecological grief.”

With that revelation in mind, Popławska began intuitively photographing moments that would emotionally express her state. She sought out places connected to anthropocentric thinking like zoos, and visited a home for the visually impaired to meet the residents there, making portraits and learning how they experience nature through texture, sound and scent. She wanted everything to appear dreamlike, as if inside the mind of someone experiencing Solastalgia or a loss of senses. “I hope this project will bring attention to the fragility and power of our senses as well as how climate change affects our emotional and mental health,” she says. “It’s a young research subject, but perhaps one of the most challenging for us in the near future.””

Joanna Cresswell

Fading Senses wins Decade of Change Series Award by 1854 British Journal of Photography

I am pleased to announce that Fading Senses is one of two winning series of Decade of Change Series Award, a global photography prize and collaborative exhibition from 1854 British Journal of Photography, dedicated to the defining issue of our time: the climate crisis.

Decade of Change is a cross-sector initiative, uniting prominent figures in art, politics, research and activism, conceived to harness the universal power of photography to inspire climate action. Split between three categories – series, single images and moving image – the award invited submissions from visual artists across the globe on any aspect of the climate crisis.

From humans and wildlife to urban landscapes and ecosystems, the award explores the many facets of climate change: the strength and fragility of the natural world, the collateral effects on communities and individuals in their daily life, and our global efforts to reverse the situation. The two bodies of work and the thirty winning images of this year's Decade of Change focus on the global climate crisis. These photographs offer a powerful and urgent response to the ways our world is changing. This exhibition is the achievement of 25 international artists.

The winning works are currently exhibited as part of a touring exhibition. The first exhibition location is City Quays Gallery as part of Belfast Photo Festival, from 3rd June to 4th September 2022. The second exhibition will take place at InCadaques International Photo Festival, from 29th September to 9th October 2022.

Thank you to the judging panel:
Miranda Massie - Director and Founder of the Climate Museum, New York
Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim - President, Association for Indigenous Women and Peoples of Chad
Terry Tamminen - Former CEO, Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation
Muyi Xizo - Reporter and Video Producer, NY Times
Angela Glienicke - Picture Editor, Greenpeace
Tim Brooks - Vice President of Environmental Responsibility Lego
Kathleen Leilimayo - Asia and Pacific Video Producer 350org
Paul Dickinson - Founder and Executive Chairman CDP

April 2022

Ligia Popławska on Exhibiting at PhMuseum Days
by PhMuseum

The Polish photographer shares her emotions and experience after her proiect Fadina Senses wasselected and exhibited at our International Festival in Bologna. Link to the article

September 2021

Public talk at PhMuseum Days 2021 Photo Festival

What happens if we lose our senses? Ligia Popławska talks about Solastalgia’, PhMuseum Days 2021, Bologna, Italy (2021) 

June 2021

Fading Senses wins PhMuseum Days 2021 Open Call Award / Fabiola Cedillo, Ligia Popławska and Samuel Fordham Will Exhibit At Phmuseum Days 2021by Giuseppe Oliverio

“Among more than 700 applications showing an impressive range of talent, approaches and ideas, the PHmuseum Days 2021 Open Call's jury selected three works to exhibit at the festival. The eventual prize recipients are Human by Fabiola Cedillo - on the human being's need for reproduction, naturally and through technology - Fading Senses by Ligia Poplawska - on the implications of the loss of ecosystems on our mental and emotional health - and C-R92/BY by Samuel Fordham - on thousands of British families forcibly separated by the Home Office.
Link to the article and results

Judges:
Lua Ribeira - Photographer and Magnum Associate
Giuseppe Oliverio - PHmuseum Founder and Director
Laura El Tantawy - Documentary Photographer
Rocco Venezia - Photographer and PHmuseum curator