The artists nominated by
The selection of Katarina Radović, Vera Hadzhiyska, and Alexis Cismas for the Futures Photography project represents a curated intersection of socio-anthropological inquiry, historical memory, and poetic intimacy. Together, these artists challenge the boundaries of the photographic medium, moving beyond simple documentation to explore the complex layers of identity, trauma, and the human condition in a modern European context.
Katarina Radović: The Performative Anthropologist
Katarina Radović is selected for her unique ability to blend documentary photography with a sharp, performative, and often witty anthropological lens. Her work investigates the "theatre of the everyday", focusing on social rituals, gender roles, and the construction of identity within specific cultural frameworks.
- Why she fits Futures: Radović’s practice is essential for the platform because it critiques contemporary social structures through a sense of irony and deep empathy. Whether exploring the kitsch of wedding rituals or the performative nature of the "selfie" culture, her work invites viewers to question the authenticity of the roles we play in society. Her established yet evolving voice provides a bridge between traditional social commentary and contemporary conceptual practice.
Vera Hadzhiyska: The Guardian of Memory
Vera Hadzhiyska is a multidisciplinary photographer whose work is deeply rooted in research, archival intervention, and the politics of identity. Her projects, most notably those dealing with the "Names Process" in Bulgaria and the forced displacement of minority groups, demonstrate a profound commitment to uncovering silenced histories.
- Why she fits Futures: Hadzhiyska represents the "research-as-art" movement that is vital to the future of photography. Her ability to weave personal family narratives with broader geopolitical traumas makes her work both deeply moving and politically urgent. By selecting Vera, the project highlights the importance of photography as a tool for reconciliation, historical preservation, and the exploration of "belonging" in a post-migration Europe.
Alexis Cismas: The Poetic Documentarian
Alexis Cismas is chosen for her sensitive, tactile, and highly psychological approach to the image. His work moves away from the grand narrative to focus on the "micro-moments", the fragility of human connection, the emotional residue of domestic spaces, and the quiet tension between presence and absence.
- Why she fits Futures: Alexis brings a cinematic and lyrical quality to the selection. Her projects display a sophisticated understanding of light, texture, and the "unspoken" aspects of photography. She represents a generation of artists who use the camera not just to see the world, but to feel it. Her inclusion ensures the project encompasses the interior, psychological landscapes that define the contemporary human experience.
The synergy between these three artists creates a powerful narrative arc for the Futures Photography project. From Radović’s extroverted social critiques and Hadzhiyska’s archival depth to Cismas’s introverted psychological portraits, this selection offers a comprehensive look at the state of contemporary photography: an art form that is simultaneously a witness to history, a mirror to society, and a map of the human soul.
The members atof the jury:
Andrei Budescu, photographer and university professor, former dean of UAD (University of Art and Design), Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Panagiotis Papoutsis, photographer and former artistic director of Ioannina Photo Festival, Greece
Dorel Găină, photographer and university professor, former dean of UAD (University of Art and Design), Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Sebastian Vaida, photographer and artistic director of Photo Romania Festival, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Alexis Anaci is an interdisciplinary artist and researcher working across photographic, sculptural, and textual forms. Her practice explores how identities are shaped, imagined, and sensed, particularly through approaches that blur personal reflection with theoretical and material investigation. Situated at the intersection of contemporary art and psychological inquiry, Alexis is drawn to the subtle spaces between perception and interpretation, between what is shown and what is felt.
Guided by a commitment to experimentation, her work embraces ambiguity and unresolved states: a gesture half-formed, a thought not fully grasped. Through material processes—photographic interventions on film, polaroids, and light-sensitive paper, alongside sculptural
experimentation with plaster and paint—Alexis examines what lies beneath awareness, the unspoken and elusive, investigating the limits of representation and the ways inner worlds are experienced and partially shared.
Research-led and process-driven, her practice moves between introspection and communication, engaging both personal reflection and relational encounters. By questioning how selves are made visible, to oneself and to others, Alexis navigates the tension between intimacy and distance, creating space for moments of wonder, doubt, and speculative reflection.
Her work situates the material, the conceptual, and the experiential in dialogue, inviting viewers to inhabit the partially known and the unknowable.
Katarina Radović was born in Belgrade, Serbia. She studied History of Art at the University of Sussex in Brighton, UK in the 1990’s and later acquired the BA Degree in Photography from the Academy of Arts ‘BK’ in Belgrade in 2006.
As a free-lance artist, she has participated in a number of solo and group exhibitions and festivals in Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Hungary, Austria, the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Spain, The Netherlands, France, Malta, Egypt, Japan, Senegal, USA, Israel, etc.
She received the Kultur Kontakt artist-in-residence grant in Vienna, Austria, in 2007; the European Cultural Foundation (ECF) grant for the project Until Death Do Us Part in 2009; and the artist-in-residence grant from the Fondazzjoni Kreattività in Malta in 2019. She also received a grant for attending a specialised course in photography at the International Summer Academy of Fine Arts in Salzburg, Austria, in 2020.
Vera Hadzhiyska is a Bulgarian multidisciplinary artist, curator, and photography lecturer based in Portsmouth, England. Her practice explores themes of migration, cultural and national identity, history, and collective memory. Her work begins autobiographically, tracing family narratives and shared traumas. Through the use of photography, archival documents, audio and video installations Vera examines historical and political events in Bulgaria and Eastern Europe, their impact on people’s lives and identity.
As a curator, Vera has worked extensively with the Rethinking Eastern Collective, showcasing contemporary visual artists who challenge and redefine perceptions of ‘Eastern Europe.’ Over the past four years, she has also been active in promoting contemporary Korean art and photography in the UK.
Vera holds BA and MA degrees in Photography from the University of Portsmouth and has exhibited internationally across Bulgaria, Greece, Turkey, France, Kosovo, the UK and South Korea. Her work has been recognised with numerous awards and grants, including the VID Foundation for Photography Award (2020), Danny Wilson Memorial Award (2022), Arts Council England’s Developing Your Creative Practice Grant (2021), Belfast Exposed Future Curators Award (2023), and British Korean Society Grants (2023 and 2024).
