self portrait, studio in Zurich, May 2024
aberration, transmutation, surrender.
the default notion of romantically emphasizing the appearance of imperfection within analog photographic processes is boring and outdated. there is more beyond the nostalgic view on dust and scratches: the darkroom’s unsterile environment is a source of irreproducable landscapes of color, form, and meaning. in my process- and iteration-oriented practice, deeply embedded in technical frameworks, I am searching for the places where the medium’s unknown qualities reveal themselves. these qualities find expression in the transition between control and surrender. I call this the ‘negative space’–– the necessary, inevitable moment where enlarging experiences and the Other reside. this concept is fundamental to the way I work and rooted in my understanding of eros.
CV
Akosua [a-koss-ya] Viktoria Adu-Sanyah is a German-Ghanaian artist based in Zürich, Switzerland.
Her work has been published in National Geographic, LUX Magazine, The Art Newspaper, Polka Magazine, Bloomberg, npr, DerBund, swissinfo, Tagesanzeiger, Brytehall, and others.
CURRENT AND UPCOMING
Corner Dry Lungs – solo show at MMK in Frankfurt
The House Is A Body – solo show at Georgian House Museum in Bristol, commissioned by Alejandro Acín and Ben GJ Thomas for Bristol Photo Festival
ROUGH TIDE – artist book published in June 2024, availabe here
AWARDS, GRANTS, NOMINATIONS
2024 Swiss Art Award
2024 Project Grant Photographic Uncertainties/Focus Photo – Pro Helvetia
2023 Book Publishing Grant Pro Helvetia
2023 Book Publishing Grant City of Zurich
2023 Werkbeitrag Kanton Zürich / Canton of Zurich Art Grant
2023 Yaa Asantewaa Art Prize runner-up
2023 Nomination EXPOSED Torino Grant for Contemporary Photography
2023 Kunststipendium der Stadt Zürich / City of Zurich Art Grant
2022 Nomination C/O Berlin Talent Award
2022 Freiraumbeitrag / Working Stipend Kanton Zürich
2022 Louis Roederer Art Prize for Sustainability
2021 Prix d’Art Robert Schuman
2021 Book Publishing Grant Volkart Stiftung
2021 Nomination Photographic Encounters
2021 Recognition Fire Cracker Grant
2021 Book Project Grant Canton Zurich
2021 Story Lab Filmmaking Grant, Migros Kulturprozent
2020 Prix Photoforum 2020
2015 OPUS-Fotografiepreis
2015 Marta-Hoepffner-Preis für Fotografie – shortlist
2015 Nomination 22. Bundeswettbewerb
2014 Deutschlandstipendium
2013 Peter und Luise Hager-Preis / Award for Interdisciplinary Aesthetics
2012 Peter und Luise Hager-Preis / Award for Interdisciplinary Aesthetics
COLLECTIONS
2024 Fotostiftung Schweiz
2024 Art Collection Canton of Zurich
2023 Art Collection City of Zürich
2023 Art Vontobel
2022 RawDAO
2021 Fotomuseum Winterthur (Patron Edition)
2021 Municipal Collection City of Saarbrücken
PUBLICATIONS
2024 ROUGH TIDE, 112 pages, edition fink, ISBN 978-3-03746-270-6
SOLO SHOWS
2024 The House Is A Body, Georgian House Museum for Bristol Photo Festival, Bristol UK
2024 Corner Dry Lungs, Zollamt MMK, Frankfurt am Main, DE
2022 Behold The Ocean, Centre Photographie Genéve CH
2022 May I Dream?, Photoforum Pasquart CH
2020 Hyper Solitude, Space Place Gallery of Modern Art, Nizhny Tagil RU
2015 révélée, k4 galerie, Saarbruecken DE
SELECTED GROUP AND DUO SHOWS
2024 weg, Helmhaus, Zürich CH
2023 Alternative Mobility, Gia Lam Train Factory, Hanoi VN
2023 Art Vontobel – New Acquisitions, Vontobel, Zürich CH
2023 Werkschau Kanton Zürich, Haus Konstruktiv, Zürich CH
2023 Kunststipendien der Stadt Zürich 2023, Helmhaus, Zürich CH
2023 FOTODOKS – future perfect, Lothringer 13 Halle, München DE
2023 Beyond Photography, Vontobel, Zurich CH
2023 IDENTITIES – Portraying the Intangible, Kunsthalle Trier, Trier DE
2022 Black Helvetia, TPR, Le Locle CH
2022 work in progress 2.0, OnCurating, Zurich CH
2022 Superrare Collection Preview, Superrare Gallery, New York City USA
2022 ZORATOPIA, Knockdown Center, New York City USA
2022 Louis Roederer Photography Prize for Sustainability, The White Box at Nobu Hotel, London UK
2022 Poem = Work of Art, digital francisco carolinum and TheVerseVerse, AUT
2022 Art Dubai, Madinat Jumeirah Centre, Dubai UAE
2021 Prix d’Art Robert Schuman, Stadtgalerie Saarbrücken, Saarbrücken DE
2021 Digital Art Fair Asia, Hong Kong HK
2021 Cyberbaat Genesis, 1mA gallery and Foundation, Dakar SEN
2021 STILL, Road Gallery, Miami & L.A. USA
2021 Prix Photoforum, Photoforum Pasquart, Biel CH
2019 Fotonacht, Schwarzenburgstrasse 35, Bern CH
2016 Exposition photographique transfrontalière, Espace d‘Art Adagio, Thionville FR
2015 OPUS Fotografiepreis, Abbaye de Neimenster, Luxembourg LUX
2015 22. Bundeswettbewerb, Bundeskunsthalle, Bonn DE
2014 Love in a Cold World, Cusanushaus, Saarbruecken DE
2014 Aus der Reihe – 5. Marta-Hoepffner-Preis, Stadtmuseum Hofheim am Taunus, Hofheim DE
2013 Peter und Luise Hager-Preis für interdisziplinäre Ästhetik, HBK Galerie, Saarbruecken DE
2012 Unseen, KuBa Galerie, Saarbruecken DE
PUBLIC SPEAKING, SEMINARS, PODCASTS
2023
NFTs & Web3 for photographers, Two-day-workshop, Centre de la Photographie Genève, Geneva CHE
2022
NFTs & Web3 for creative practitioners: the future istokenized, Three-day-workshop, CCC Research Master and PhD-Forum, Haute école d'art et de design, Geneva CHE
2022
The Art (of) Revolution: NFTs & Web3 – Technology as cultural disruption, Evening lecture and panel with Uli Sigg and Ryan Zurrer, SQUARE – University of Sankt Gallen CHE
2022
The Raw Review, Podcast
2022, Behold The Ocean – Funding Science with Art on The Blockchain and Diversity and Decolonizing Culture in Web3, nonfungibleconference, Pavilhão Carlos Lopes, Lisbon POR
2022
On Looking – The Year of NFT Photography?, NFT NYC, Marriot Marquis Times Square, New York City USA
2022
Forum Talks, Podcast
Corner Dry Lungs – solo show at MMK in Frankfurt
The House Is A Body – solo show at Georgian House Museum in Bristol, commissioned by Alejandro Acín and Ben GJ Thomas for Bristol Photo Festival
ROUGH TIDE – artist book published in June 2024, availabe here
AWARDS, GRANTS, NOMINATIONS
2024 Project Grant Photographic Uncertainties/Focus Photo – Pro Helvetia
2023 Book Publishing Grant Pro Helvetia
2023 Book Publishing Grant City of Zurich
2023 Werkbeitrag Kanton Zürich / Canton of Zurich Art Grant
2023 Yaa Asantewaa Art Prize runner-up
2023 Nomination EXPOSED Torino Grant for Contemporary Photography
2023 Kunststipendium der Stadt Zürich / City of Zurich Art Grant
2022 Nomination C/O Berlin Talent Award
2022 Freiraumbeitrag / Working Stipend Kanton Zürich
2022 Louis Roederer Art Prize for Sustainability
2021 Prix d’Art Robert Schuman
2021 Book Publishing Grant Volkart Stiftung
2021 Nomination Photographic Encounters
2021 Recognition Fire Cracker Grant
2021 Book Project Grant Canton Zurich
2021 Story Lab Filmmaking Grant, Migros Kulturprozent
2020 Prix Photoforum 2020
2015 OPUS-Fotografiepreis
2015 Marta-Hoepffner-Preis für Fotografie – shortlist
2015 Nomination 22. Bundeswettbewerb
2014 Deutschlandstipendium
2013 Peter und Luise Hager-Preis / Award for Interdisciplinary Aesthetics
2012 Peter und Luise Hager-Preis / Award for Interdisciplinary Aesthetics
COLLECTIONS
2024 Fotostiftung Schweiz
2024 Art Collection Canton of Zurich
2023 Art Collection City of Zürich
2023 Art Vontobel
2022 RawDAO
2021 Fotomuseum Winterthur (Patron Edition)
2021 Municipal Collection City of Saarbrücken
2015 Saarlandmuseum
PUBLICATIONS
2024 ROUGH TIDE, 112 pages, edition fink, ISBN 978-3-03746-270-6
RESIDENCIES
2023 MAP Artist Residency, Heritage Space Hanoi, VNM
2022 Artist Residency Photoforum Pasquart, Biel CH
SOLO SHOWS
2024 The House Is A Body, Georgian House Museum for Bristol Photo Festival, Bristol UK
2024 Corner Dry Lungs, Zollamt MMK, Frankfurt am Main, DE
2022 Behold The Ocean, Centre Photographie Genéve CH
2022 May I Dream?, Photoforum Pasquart CH
2020 Hyper Solitude, Space Place Gallery of Modern Art, Nizhny Tagil RU
2015 révélée, k4 galerie, Saarbruecken DE
SELECTED GROUP AND DUO SHOWS
2025 Love, Maybe, curated by Jana Johanna Haeckel, Alexander Tutsek Foundation, Munich DE upcoming
2024 Swiss Art Awards, Messe Art Basel, Basel CH
2024 Missing Mirror, Foam Museum, Amsterdam NL
2024 Making Light of Every Thing, Centre de la Photographie Genève, Geneva CH
2024 Swiss Art Awards, Messe Art Basel, Basel CH
2024 Missing Mirror, Foam Museum, Amsterdam NL
2024 Making Light of Every Thing, Centre de la Photographie Genève, Geneva CH
2023 Alternative Mobility, Gia Lam Train Factory, Hanoi VN
2023 Art Vontobel – New Acquisitions, Vontobel, Zürich CH
2023 Werkschau Kanton Zürich, Haus Konstruktiv, Zürich CH
2023 Kunststipendien der Stadt Zürich 2023, Helmhaus, Zürich CH
2023 FOTODOKS – future perfect, Lothringer 13 Halle, München DE
2023 Beyond Photography, Vontobel, Zurich CH
2023 IDENTITIES – Portraying the Intangible, Kunsthalle Trier, Trier DE
2022 Black Helvetia, TPR, Le Locle CH
2022 work in progress 2.0, OnCurating, Zurich CH
2022 Superrare Collection Preview, Superrare Gallery, New York City USA
2022 ZORATOPIA, Knockdown Center, New York City USA
2022 Louis Roederer Photography Prize for Sustainability, The White Box at Nobu Hotel, London UK
2022 Poem = Work of Art, digital francisco carolinum and TheVerseVerse, AUT
2022 Art Dubai, Madinat Jumeirah Centre, Dubai UAE
2021 Prix d’Art Robert Schuman, Stadtgalerie Saarbrücken, Saarbrücken DE
2021 Digital Art Fair Asia, Hong Kong HK
2021 Cyberbaat Genesis, 1mA gallery and Foundation, Dakar SEN
2021 STILL, Road Gallery, Miami & L.A. USA
2021 Prix Photoforum, Photoforum Pasquart, Biel CH
2019 Fotonacht, Schwarzenburgstrasse 35, Bern CH
2019 FRISCH, with Eliane Zinner, visarte kabinett, Zürich CH
2015 Tausendmal. Der Versuch, with Malika Hagemann, Saarlandmuseum, Saarbruecken DE
2015 22. Bundeswettbewerb, Bundeskunsthalle, Bonn DE
2014 Love in a Cold World, Cusanushaus, Saarbruecken DE
2014 Aus der Reihe – 5. Marta-Hoepffner-Preis, Stadtmuseum Hofheim am Taunus, Hofheim DE
2014 early birds, with Valerian Polienko, enovos, Saarbruecken DE
2012 Unseen, KuBa Galerie, Saarbruecken DE
PUBLIC SPEAKING, SEMINARS, PODCASTS
NFT Art Talk – Vontobel Zürich CH 20.03.2024
2023
NFTs & Web3 for photographers, Two-day-workshop, Centre de la Photographie Genève, Geneva CHE
2022
NFTs & Web3 for creative practitioners: the future is
2022
The Art (of) Revolution: NFTs & Web3 – Technology as cultural disruption, Evening lecture and panel with Uli Sigg and Ryan Zurrer, SQUARE – University of Sankt Gallen CHE
2022
The Raw Review, Podcast
2022, Behold The Ocean – Funding Science with Art on The Blockchain and Diversity and Decolonizing Culture in Web3, nonfungibleconference, Pavilhão Carlos Lopes, Lisbon POR
2022
On Looking – The Year of NFT Photography?, NFT NYC, Marriot Marquis Times Square, New York City USA
2022
Forum Talks, Podcast