Kaarina-Sirkku

Olga Kocsi (1987) is a multimedia artist based in Budapest and Freiburg, creating multi-sensory experiences that explore topics at the intersection of various scientific fields. Her work investigates the relationship between reality and virtual reality, as well as its potential evolution in the future, while pushing and mapping the boundaries between private and public spheres. Kocsi is known for her complex installations that envelop the viewer, employing a wide range of media including photography, video, animation, and VR. A key aspect of her practice is providing guided experiences that encourage audiences to engage with socially complex messages through self-reflection. Her main areas of focus include human stories, the mapping of time and reality, and simulation. As an experimental thinker, Kocsi boldly plays with spaces, surfaces, and materials, crafting unconventional situations that actively involve the viewer.

Bio: Yun Ping Li (Hubei, China, 1998) is a visual artist based in Madrid. His work investigates the intersection between photography and performance, as well as exploring the concept of belonging in relation to the human body, physical spaces, and family ties. He is author of 回家 (huí jiā). The project has been winner of 13th Galicia Contemporary Photography Award, Fotonoviembre photography biennial and FOTODOKS open call 2025 and Getxophoto open call 2026. He has presented it at Paris Internationale and the annual "Plat(t)form" portfolio review event at Fotomuseum Winterthur (Switzerland). He has participated in solo and collective exhibitions in venues such as El Local (Madrid), Photo Elysée (Switzerland), La Panera (Lleida), The National Museum of Anthropology (Madrid) and Sala Arte Joven (Madrid). He has published his work in Sinetheta, Balam, Exit and Esto es un cuerpo magazines. His work is in the collection of Kutxa foundation.

Minh Ngọc Nguyễn (b. 1992) holds an MFA in Photography from HDK-Valand in Gothenburg and a BA in Visual Communication from the Danish School of Media and Journalism in Copenhagen. Working primarily with staged still-life photography, Nguyễn approaches the medium as both a visual practice and a cultural system, examining how images produce, circulate, and stabilise meanings of identity, desire, and representation. Minh lives and works in Copenhagen.

Romane Iskaria is a French photographer and artist based in Brussels, Belgium (1997). The photographer highlights the injustices and inequalities of invisible communities with a documentary and fictional approach. Her images, specific to “Care”, tell a story and allow her subjects to become aware of their painful stories. She creates a connection with these subjects that goes beyond the simple link between the photographer and her model. The artist uses photography and the field of video, but also textiles, sound, and sculpture to create immersive installations. She tells stories that take the form of a long-term investigation across several territories. Romane replays specific rituals and stories that also transcend borders, addressing questions around migration and exile. The photographer creates plastic forms allowing her to subvert the codes of documentary. She graduated with a Master's degree in photography from ENSAV La Cambre in 2022 and a DNA (National Diploma in Plastic Arts) from INSEAAM Beaux Arts in Marseille in 2018. She also completed an exchange at the U-LAVAL Visual Arts school in Quebec, Canada. Romane is laureate of TIFF 2024 Emerging Belgian Photography, by FOMU Fotomuseum Antwerpen and the european platform FUTURES Photography. Her work has been shown in solo and group exhibitions: in the United States (ART-ARK Gallery in San Jose, California; Assyrian Policy Institute in Washington, D.C.), in Brazil (João Pessoa Paraíba Nordeste Art Gallery of the Energisa Institute), in France (Circulation(s) Cent-Quatre Festival in Paris, Lille Art-Up Centre Photographique in Lille, La Grande Vitrine Gallery in Arles, HLM Gallery in Marseille), in Belgium (FOMU Fotomuseum Antwerp, S.M.A.K Museum in Ghent, House of European History Brussels, TAMAT Museum in Tournai, BPS22, Art-Brussels Off, Prix Médiatine, Hangar Art Photo Center, TICK-TACK Gallery, Tiny-Gallery, Fondation Carrefour des Arts), in Armenia (French Consulate in Yerevan), in Italy (L’Asilo in Naples), and in the Netherlands (Flemish Cultural Center). Brakke-grond, Noorderlicht Festival). Romane was selected as part of the call for projects launched by Polka Magazine and Kickstarter for the creation and support of an artist's book, with the self-publishing of her first work, "Assyrians," in a print run of 300 copies in 2022. The book "Assyrians" was also a winner of the Belgian Photo Books selection, presented at the Rencontres d'Arles in July 2022.

Ornella Mari is a Belgian-born, Hungarian-Italian photographer based in Budapest. Her work explores themes of identity, femininity, and self-perception, often delving into the emotional and psychological landscapes of her subjects. Through a nuanced approach to portraiture, she captures the complexities of human experience, from moments of vulnerability to personal transformation. Mari’s journey with photography began as a means of self-exploration, gradually evolving into a broader investigation of societal expectations and internal struggles. Her images balance intimacy with universality, inviting viewers to reflect on themes of self-acceptance, resilience, and the fluid nature of identity. Rooted in both conceptual and documentary influences, Mari’s photography serves as a visual dialogue between the external world and inner realities. Whether through staged compositions or candid moments, her work seeks to challenge perceptions and offer new ways of seeing oneself and others.

Sybren Vanoverberghe (b. 1996, BE) is an artist who lives and works in Belgium. Vanoverberghe has had recent solo exhibitions at Deweer Gallery, Otegem (BE), UZ Brussels (BE), CC De Factorij, Zaventem (BE) and Keteleer Gallery, Antwerp (BE). He had two-person exhibitions at De Brakke Grond, Amsterdam (NL), Contretype, Brussels (BE), Barbé Gallery, Ghent (BE), Ontsteking, Ghent (BE). His works have been shown at various fairs such as Unseen, Amsterdam (NL); Miart (IT), Art Brussels (BE) and Art Cologne (DE). Vanoverberghe’s works are published in artist books such as 2099 (2018), Conference of the Birds (2019), 1099 (2020), Sandcastles and Rubbish (2021), Desert Spirals (2023), MUSA (2024) by Art Paper Editions (BE). His works are included in the public collection of the Flemish Government – FoMu, Antwerp, BE. Vanoverberghe received his MFA from The School of Arts – KASK in Ghent, (BE). Vanoverberghe engages with photography, employing diverse printing techniques, installations, structures, and discovered objects in his artistic practice. His creations capture landscapes and their remnants in a perpetual state of transformation, revealing the intricate interplay between place and time. Through his works, Vanoverberghe explores the convergence of history, nature, and heritage, presenting viewers with a visual dialogue that spans both the historical ruins and commonplace locales. His art challenges established notions by juxtaposing present-day structures with what might be interpreted as artefacts from an envisioned future. Vanoverberghe’s pieces possess a pronounced anachronistic quality, with certain images portraying a bygone era that never truly existed. Within his monographs, he often delves into the cyclical nature of specific sites, transcending their original geographic context. His work prompts speculative inquiries that traverse time, oscillating between past and future with equal resonance. A perpetual tension permeates Vanoverberghe’s oeuvre, inviting contemplation on the dual nature of images — whether to accept them as historical documents or dismiss those that seem to foretell a future yet to unfold. Sybren Vanoverberghe is represented by Keteleer Gallery, BE.

Nik Erik Neubauer (1994) is a visual artist and photographer from Ljubljana, Slovenia. His work explores intimate social issues of everyday life through a contemporary documentary approach. He earned a master’s degree in photography from the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Ljubljana in 2021. In the same year, Neubauer was nominated for the Leica Oskar Barnack Newcomer Award and he received the Watchdog Award from the Slovenian Association of Journalists for his long-term project documenting anti-government protests in Slovenia. In 2022, he was one of the winners of the Belfast Photo Festival in the photobook category. The following year, in 2023, Neubauer was nominated for the OHO Award, Slovenia's leading national prize for young visual artists. His second photobook, Where’s the Afters?, published by the National Museum of Contemporary History, was shortlisted for the Rencontres d’Arles Book Awards and, as of 2024, is also available at Printed Matter Inc., New York City. In 2025, he received second place in the Life category at the Sarajevo Photography Festival. He is also the co-editor of Henrik – Journal of Contemporary Photography.

Dafni Melidou is a research-based artist working across photography, video and olfactory media. Melidou's practice questions how visual and sensory narratives shape our understanding of social inequalities and ecological fragility. Their work revolves around themes of class, gender, grief, migration, and mechanisms of exclusion in more general terms. This often happens by layering mediums, destabilizing hierarchies of perception, and creating spaces where dialogue emerges. Melidou holds a Master's degree in Photography & Society from the Royal Academy of Art, The Hague (KABK) where they are currently teaching.