Catalogue > Un extrait vidéo au hasard

Wiktoria Wojciechowska

Sparks

Doc. expérimental | hdv | couleur | 0:0 | Pologne, 0 | 2019

Sparks is a multidimensional portrait of a forgotten but still raging contemporary European conflict: the war in Ukraine. Ukrainians are fighting each other, with government forces on one side and pro-Russian separatists on the other. Wiktoria Wojciechowska went in search of combatants and victims to recount its impact on the lives of ordinary people. The title, Sparks, refers to incandescent shrapnel that mercilessly pierces the walls of houses. Civilians living near the front call it ??????? or iskry, in Ukrainian. Looking up at a hail of burning fragments, they know it is already too late to seek shelter. The "sparks" signal death and fear. Combining photographs, collage, film, symbolic images of armed conflict with pictures and words collected from combatants, Sparks offers several perceptions of war.

Wiktoria Wojciechowska is a multimedia artist, working with photography, video, collage, installation and books. Born in 1991 in Lublin, Poland and graduated with honors from Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw. Lives and works in Lublin and Paris. Wiktoria Wojciechowska was the 2015 winner of the Oskar Barnack Leica Newcomer Award for Short Flashes, portraits of drenched cyclists captured on the streets of Chinese's metropolis. Between 2014 and 2016, she accomplished Sparks, a portrait of the contemporary war in Ukraine, based on the stories of people living in a war-torn country. This series received several awards, such as Les Rencontres d'Arles 2108 New Discovery award's public prize, Madame Figaro prize and the Prix pour la Photographie, Fondation des Treilles. "Sparks" has been featured in numerous exhibitions such as Les Rencontres d'Arles 2018 in France; Jimei X Arles festival in Xiamen, China; Krakow Photomonth in Poland, The Museum of Photography in Riga, Latvia, Exhibition Bureau in Warsaw, Poland. Wiktoria Wojciechowska was also nominated for many prestigious grants such as Joop Swart Masterclass 2016, Unseen Young Talents, Lucie Foundation Emerging Artists, Visura Grant, Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize (for the book Short Flashes) and Foam Paul Huf Award. She is a recipient of scholarships and grants of Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage and other institutions.