About

STATEMENT

My work originates from personal experiences. With a multidisciplinary approach – including the use of photography, archive material, writing, video, sound, and sculpture – I explore family ties, memory, and identity, questioning the roots of specific behaviors and patterns, and putting in tension the ambivalence of affective relationships. My artistic process is divided between research, imagination, and intuition, drawing from my memories and everyday stimuli. I create multiple-level narratives within which narrative spaces and perceptions intertwine, determining visual associations and dynamics through installation and editorial projects with the intention to communicate at a sensorial level and go beyond what is visible. 

BIOGRAPHY

Martina Zanin is a photographer and visual artist born in San Daniele del Friuli, Italy. She studied Photography at the Istituto Superiore di Fotografia in Rome and obtained her Master’s degree in Contemporary Photography at the Istituto Europeo di Design in Madrid. In addition, between 2018 and 2020 she specializes in Plastic Arts and Creative Writing in Rome.

Zanin is the author of the photobook I Made Them Run Away published by SKINNERBOOX, and Older Than Love, a self-published book accompanying her homonymous multimedia installation. In 2021 she is the winner of Camera Work, Images Gibellina, and Cantica21. Italian Contemporary Art Everywhere, supported by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and the Italian Ministry of Culture. She has been nominated for the Foam Paul Huf Award 2019 and the C/O Berlin Talent Award 2020. Zanin is represented by studiofaganel gallery in Gorizia, IT.

Her work has been exhibited in solo and group shows at the national and international level, among others Benaki Museum (2022), Fonderia 20.9 (2022), IIC Abu Dhabi (2021), FMAV – Fondazione Modena Arti Visive (2021), BACO – Base Arte Contemporanea Odierna (2021), Spazio Labo’ (2021), Galleria Studio Faganel (2021), Cortona On The Move (2021), Fotografia Europea (2021), Fondazione Fabbri (2020), Photo España (2018), Goethe Institute (2017), Palazzo delle Esposizioni (2015), Museo Laboratiorio Arte Contemporanea (2015).

SELECTED SOLO SHOWS

2022
I Made Them Run Away, Terranova, Barcelona, ES
2021
Older Than Love, IIC Abu Dhabi, Fann À Porter, Dubai, AE
I Made Them Run Away, Spazio Labò, Bologna, IT
I Made Them Run Away, Photo Open Up, Padova, IT
I Made Them Run Away, Palazzo Rasponi 2, Ravenna, IT
I Made Them Run Away, Studio Faganel, Gorizia, IT
2020
I Made Them Run Away, Panoramic Festival, Barcelona, ES
2019
I Made Them Run Away, Leporello, Rome, IT
2018
I Made Them Run Away, JEST, Turin, IT

SELECTED GROUP SHOWS

2023
– Eyes on Tomorrow, Giovane Fotografia Italiana, IIC
– Molteplicità, Images Gibellina, Fondazione Orestiadi, Gibellina, IT
2022
– Italian Panorama – Photo Vogue Festival, BASE Milano, Milan, IT
– Good Advice & Other Recipes, Athens Photo Festival, Benaki Museum, Athens, GR
– AXES-SAM Residency Program, Fonderia 20.9, Verona, IT
2021
Older Than Love, Nuove Acquisizioni – Cantica21, FMAV – Fondazione Modena Arti Visive, Modena, IT
– Metafotografia III, BACO – Base Arte Contemporanea, Bergamo, IT
I Made Them Run Away, Kranj Foto Fest, Kranj, SI
– RECONSTRUCTION – Giovane Fotografia Italiana, Cortona On The Move, Cortona, IT
– CORPOREA, Studio Faganel, Gorizia, IT
– RECONSTRUCTION – Giovane Fotografia Italiana, Fotografia Europea, Reggio Emilia, IT
– Premio Francesco Fabbri, Fondazione Fabbri, Pieve di Soligo, IT
2020
– SHIFT, Studio Faganel, Gorizia, IT
– Spazio Libero – Immagini per riabitare la città, Reggio Emilia, IT
2019
– AXIS – SAM Residency Program, Bosco Chiesanuova, IT
– Sistemi, Centrale Festival 11, Fano, IT
2018
I Made Them Run Away, PhotoEspana, Madrid, ES
2017
– Be Great, ISFCI, Rome, IT
– Più Culture, Goethe Institute, Rome, IT
2015
– DRD4-7R – Futuro anteriore, Spazio Fontana, Palazzo Esposizioni, Rome, IT
– LA GRANDE ALLUSIONE: 1974-2015, MLAC-Museo Laboratorio di Arte Contemporanea, Rome, IT

SELECTED AWARDS AND RESIDENCIES

2023
Nuovo Forno del Pane Outdoor Edition, MAMbo Bologna (finalist)
2022
Un/fund Grant (shortlist)
2021
LUMA Rencontres Dummy Book Award Arles (finalist)
Images Gibellina (winner)
Images Vevey Book Award (finalist)
Camera Work (winner)
Prix Virginia (finalist)
Cantica21. Italian Contemporary Art Everywhere (winner)
2020
Premio Francesco Fabbri (finalist)
Giovane Fotografia Italiana (finalist)
C/O Berlin Talent Award (nominee)
2019
Foam Paul Huf Award (nominee)
SÅM – Artist Residency Program
2017
Photo Workshop New York Scholarship (winner)

BOOKS

2023
Cantica21, Silvana Editoriale
2021
Older Than Love, Self-published
I Made Them Run Away, SKINNERBOOX
Metafotografia III, SKINNERBOOX
2020
SHIFT, studiofaganel

SELECTED PRESS AND PUBLICATIONS

I Made Them Run Away reviewed by Ilaria Sponda, C4 Journal
I Made Them Run Away reviewed by Matteo Cremonesi, PHROOM
I Made Them Run Away reviewed by Odette England, photo-eye
I libri di fotografia dell’anno, Internazionale
PhMuseum’s Best Photobooks of 2021
Q&A Chiara Bardelli-Nonino and Martina Zanin, Vogue Italia
I Made Them Run Away, L’Essenziale
Ricordi che non scappano via, Internazionale
C41 Questions On: Printed Narratives with Martina Zanin
Metafotografia – Linguaggi di confine, Internazionale
I Made Them Run Away, Vostok Magazine (vol.28)
New Photography – Martina Zanin, ATP Diary
Research, Faith, and Identity of Two Astrological Twins, PhMuseum
SAM Lessinia Residency, ATP Diary
I Made Them Run Away, Unseen Magazine #7
I Made Them Run Away reviewed by Olga Gambari, La Repubblica
rinnegato, EyesOpen Magazine #8

SELECTED TALKS AND LECTURES

2023
TALK – Cantica21. Presentation of the books with Martina Zanin and Jacopo Valentini, Spazio F, Modena, IT
2022
TEACHER at Grisart, Barcelona, ES (current)
TALK – Ritratto di Famiglia. Federica Chiocchetti in conversation with Martina Zanin and Sara Perovic, BASE Milano, IT
BOOK PRESENTATION – I Made Them Run Away in conversation with Chiara Capodici and Raffaella Perna, Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Rome, IT
LECTURE on Family Archives – Master in Photographic Archives, University of Trieste, IT
TALK – Retreat of Independent Photographic Publishing, The House of Photography, Pisa, IT
TALKMetafotografia with Martina Zanin, Elio Grazioli, Riccardo Panattoni, University of Verona, IT
LECTUREThe present state of the arts, Hong Kong Baptist University, CN
2021
BOOK PRESENTATION – I Made Them Run Away in conversation with Sara Occhipinti, studiofaganel, Gorizia, IT
MASTERCLASS – RUFA, Rome, IT
LECTURE – Spazio Labo’, Bologna, IT
TALK – Martina Zanin presents I Made Them Run Away in conversation with Daria Tuminas at 10x10photobooks #INSTAsalons
LECTURE – FMAV – Scuola di Alta Formazione, Modena, IT
TALK – I Made Them Run Away at PhMuseum Days, Bologna, IT
TALKSpeciale Giovane Fotografia Italiana #08, Cortona On the Move, IT
TALKDa Reggio Emilia a Cortona. Sinergie per la Giovane Fotografia Italiana – Nuove prospettive di immaginazione, Fotografia Europea, IT

COLLECTIONS

  • BACO – Base Arte Contemporanea Odierna
  • Biblioteca Panizzi, Municipality of Reggio Emilia
  • Fondazione Modena Arti Visive, Galleria Civica di Modena
  • Palazzo Rasponi II, Municipality of Ravenna

EDUCATION

2020 Creative Writing, Scuola Omero, Rome, IT
2018/19 Plastic Arts, Scuola Nicola Zabaglia, Rome, IT
2018 Advanced Course «Exhibit – Know How», MAXXI, Rome, IT
2017/18 MA in Contemporary Photography, IED Madrid, ES
2017 Workshop with Phillip Toledano, Pratt Institute, New York, US
2013/16 BA with Honors in Photography, ISFCI, Rome, IT