Michal Iwanowski

Michal Iwanowski

Lecturer in Photography

e: mziwanowski@cardiffmet.ac.uk
w: www.michaliwanowski.com


Qualifications

  • 2002 MA in English, University of Wroclaw, Poland
  • 2008 MFA in Documentary Photography, University of Wales, Newport


Biography

Michal Iwanowski is a Cardiff based visual artist and a lecturer in photography. He graduated with an MFA in Documentary Photography from the University of Wales, Newport in 2008, and has been developing and disseminating his work since 2004. He won the Emerging Photographer award by Magenta Foundation, and was awarded an Honourable Mention at Px3 Prix De Photographie, Paris. He has received Arts Council of Wales grants for his projects Clear of People and Go Home, Polish, both of which were nominated for the Deutsche Börse Photography Prize, in 2017 for his book ‘Clear of People’, and in 2019 for the Go home Polish exhibition at Peckham24. His work has been exhibited and published worldwide, and has been acquired for the permanent collection of numerous institutions, including the National Museum of Wales.


Research

Michal Iwanowski’s research is concerned primarily with the representation of landscape as witness to personal narratives. His practice sits at the intersection between photography, video and creative writing, and engages with themes of emigration, national identity, fugitive experience, and loss. An integral aspect of Iwanowski’s research is the performative act of land art and long distance walking.

Publications, Exhibitions and Awards


Work in the Collections

  • 2020 National Museum of Wales, Cardiff, Wales
  • 2020 Col·lecció d’Art Banc Sabadell, Spain
  • 2018 Museum Of Contemporary Art, Zagreb, Croatia
  • 2017 National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth


Selected Grants and Awards

  • 2019 Longlisted for Deutsche Börse Photography Prize for ‘Go Home Polish’ exhibition at Peckham24
  • 2018 Arts Council of Wales grant for ‘Go Home Polish’
  • 2017 Longlisted for Deutsche Börse Photography Prize 2018 for the book ‘Clear of People’
  • 2017 Shortlisted for Die Schönsten Deutschen Böcher for ‘Clear of People’
  • 2016 Top 10 Books of 2016 for ‘Post-War Stories’ at The New York Art Book Fair
  • 2013 Arts Council of Wales grant for ‘Clear of People’
  • 2012 Kaunas Artist Residency (Kaunas Photographers’ Gallery & Ffotogallery)
  • 2009 Honourable Mention at Px3 Prix de Photographie, Paris
  • 2009 Winner of Emerging Photographers 2009, Magenta Foundation
  • 2008 Finalist in British Journal of Photography Project Assistance Award


Selected Exhibitions

  • 2023 Clear of People, The Wilson, Cheltenham, England 22/10 - 12/03/2023
  • 2022 Go home Polish @ Bildkultur, Stuttgart, Germany 15/10 - 15/11
  • 2022 Go home Polish @ WDK Kielce, Poland 27/09 - 13/10
  • 2022 Go home Polish @ Ceredigion Museum, Aberystwyth, Wales, 08/07 - 15/10
  • 2022 Go home Polish @ Die Biennale für Aktuelle Fotografie, Mannheim, Germany, 19/03 - 22/05
  • 2022 Go home Polish @ Art Central Gallery, Barry, Wales, 27/01 - 13/02
  • 2021 Go home Polish @ Fotosommer Stuttgart, Germany, 18/9 - 5/10
  • 2020 Go Home Polish @ ‘Complex States’, Cultvr, Cardiff, Wales, 1/11 - 31/12
  • 2020 1000 Miles @ ‘Touching Distance’, Y Gallery, Minsk, Belarus, 29/10 - 29/11
  • 2020 Go Home Polish @ Trafostacja, Szczecin, Poland, Oct - Nov 2020
  • 2020 Go Home Polish @ Breda Photo, The Netherlands, 9/9 - 25/10
  • 2020 Clear of People @ Acquisitions, Museum of Contemporary Art, Zagreb, Croatia, 11/12 2019 - 30/6
  • 2019 Go home Polish @ Peckham24, Copeland Gallery, London, England, 17 - 20 May
  • 2019 Go home Polish @ Diffusion Festival of Photography, Ffotogallery, Cardiff, Wales, 1/4 - 30/4
  • 2019 Go home Polish @ ‘Should I Stay or Should I Go?’, Patrick Heide Contemporary, London, 28/2 - 13/4
  • 2018 Clear of People @ Kosciuszki Square, Bialystok, Poland, 20/11 - 14/12
  • 2018 Go Home, Polish @ Galeria Fotografii Fort, Warsaw, Poland, 21/9 - 25/11
  • 2018 Go home Polish @ Galeri, Caernarfon, Wales, 21/9 - 3/11
  • 2018 Clear of People @ 58th Annale, Porec, Croatia, 2/8 - 15/9
  • 2018 Clear of People @ Athens Photo Festival, Benaki Museum, Athen, Greece, 6/6 - 29/7
  • 2018 Unfixing Histories (w/Dragana Jurisic), Noorderlicht House of Photography, The Netherlands
  • 2018 Clear of People @ Art Central Gallery, Barry, Wales, 27/1 - 24/2
  • 2018 Clear of People @ Spot Galery, Zagreb, Croatia, 11/9 - 6/10
  • 2017 Moon Landing @ Craft In The Bay, Cardiff, Wales, May - July
  • 2017 Clear of People @ Photo Ireland, Dublin, Ireland, 1/5 - 31/5
  • 2016 Clear of People @ In Residence II, Oliver Sears Gallery, London, England, 6/1- 28/10
  • 2016 Clear of People @ DocField Festival, Barcelona, Spain, 18/5 - 4/9
  • 2016 Clear of People @ (Un)known Identity, Contact Sheet, Sydney, Australia, 10/3 - 2/4
  • 2015 Clear Of People @ Festiwal Teatralny Demoludy, Olsztyn, Poland, 20/10 - 24/10
  • 2015 Clear of People @ Post-War Stories, Tbilisi Photography Festival, Georgia, 25/9 6/10
  • 2015 Clear Of People @ Y Gallery, Minsk, Belarus, 4/2 - 21/2
  • 2014 Clear of People @ Post-War Stories, Kaunas Photography Gallery, Lithuania, 21/11 - 14/12
  • 2014 No Regrets @ Galeri, Caernarfon, Wales, 6/10 - 4/11
  • 2014 No Regrets @ The Kickplate Gallery, Abertillery, Wales, 4/7 - 2/8
  • 2014 Clear Of People @ Ffotogallery, Turner House, Penarth, Wales, 6/2 - 8/3
  • 2011 Y Lle Celf @ the National Eisteddfod of Wales, Wrexham, Wales, 30/6 - 6/8
  • 2010 Strange Bedfellows II, @ The Assembly Rooms, London, England, 3/11 - 19/11
  • 2010 Magenta Foundation Flash Forward @Griffin Museum of Photography, Boston, USA, 6/4 - 9/5
  • 2010 Dialogue: A Fake Romance? @ Elysium Gallery, Swansea, Wales, 19-27 February 2010
  • 2010 Auxesis - Through The Lens @ TactileBosch, Cardiff, Wales, 23/1 - 13/2
  • 2009 Magenta Foundation Flash Forward @ FotoWeek, Washington, USA, 6/11 - 14/11
  • 2009 Magenta Foundation Flash Forward @ Lennox Contemporary, Toronto, Canada, 8/10 - 25/10
  • 2009 Subversive Correspondence @ Willesden Green, The Gallery, London, England, 19/8 - 2/9
  • 2009 Subversive Correspondence @ Broadwalk Arts, Bristol, England, 20/7 - 23/7
  • 2009 CRACK @ Hackney Empire Theatre, London, England, 13/5 - 9/6
  • 2009 Transfixed Motion|The Transitory Still @ SIAD Gallery, Sheffield, England, 3/4 - 18/4
  • 2008 Hajdpark @ III Praski Przeglad Teatralny, Warsaw, Poland, 18/8 - 24/8
  • 2008 It Will Sink If You Touch It @ Milgi Gallery, Cardiff, Wales, October - December
  • 2008 There And Back @ Ffotogallery, Turner House, Penarth, Wales, 31/10 - 2/11
  • 2007 Emerging @ Milgi Gallery, Cardiff, Wales, April - May
  • 2007 Hajdpark @ II Praski Przeglad Teatralny, Warsaw, Poland, 20/8 - 26/8
  • 2004 Diversities @ Tactile Bosch, Cardiff, Wales, 10/12 - 17/12


Selected Publications

  • 2022 The Elephant Magazine, article by Diane Smyth
  • 2021 Common Ground, European Cultural Foundation
  • 2021 Many Voices, One Nation, Ffotogallery ISBN-13:978-1-872771-29-8
  • 2020 English File, Oxford University Press, ISBN: 978-0-19-403836-2
  • 2019 The Eyes Magazine, text by Tim Clark
  • 2019 Unseen Magazine, text by Emma Lewis
  • 2019 Aethetica, Issue 88
  • 2018 The Guardian, text by Sean O’Hagan
  • 2018 Chronicle, Ffotogallery, ISBN-13: 978-1-872771-49-6
  • 2017 Clear of People, Brave Books, ISBN 978-3-00-053351-8
  • 2015 Post-war Stories (Pokario Istorijos), Kaunas Photographers’ Association, ISBN 978-609-8099-12-6
  • 2015 European Prospects: Report, Ffotogallery, ISBN 13: 978-1-872771-59-5
  • 2015 Perspectives on Place, J.A.P. Alexander, Bloomsbury, ISBN 978-1-4725-3389-0
  • 2014 European Prospects, Ffotogallery, ISBN-13: 978-1-872771-99-1
  • 2009 Flash Forward - Emerging Photographers 2009, The Magenta Foundation, ISBN: 978-0-0721257-5-7


Selected Symposiums and Artist Talks

  • 2022 January: Holocaust Memorial Day, Art Central Gallery, Barry, Wales
  • 2022 January: University of South Wales, Arts and Wellbeing MA
  • 2021 September: In radio conversation with Andreas Langen, Stuttgart
  • 2021 March: Die Biennale für Aktuelle Fotografie & Chennai Photo: Symposium: Photography and Walking
  • 2020 October: Tokyo University of the Arts
  • 2020 February: Instagram Symposium, National Museum Wales, Cardiff
  • 2020 February: A Small Voice podcast with Ben Smith
  • 2020 January: Swansea College of Art, Swansea, Wales
  • 2019 November: Inside Out, The Royal Photographic Society, Bristol, England
  • 2019 November: Dementia Congress, Doncaster, England
  • 2019 November: La Comete, The Eyes Magazine, Paris Photo, France
  • 2019 November: Creative Mornings, Cardiff, Wales
  • 2019 May: In Conversation with Tim Clark, Peckham24, London, England
  • 2019 January: Bath University, England
  • 2018 October: Elysium Gallery, Swansea, Wales
  • 2018 October: BBC Radio Wales Arts Show
  • 2018 October: BBC World Live
  • 2018 August: Falmouth University, Falmouth, England
  • 2018 February: Carmarthen School of Arts, Carmarthen, Wales
  • 2018 January: Art Central Gallery, Barry, Wales
  • 2017 November: Ravensbourne University, London, England
  • 2017 July: Clear of People Book signing, Tipi Books, Cosmos, Arles Photo Festival, France
  • 2017 May: In Conversation with Tom Mrazauskas, Self Publish Riga, Riga Photo Month
  • 2017 May: Artist Talk, PhotoIreland, Dublin, Ireland
  • 2017 April: Clear of People book launch, The Photographers’ Gallery, London, England
  • 2016 November: Recyclart artist talk, Brussels, Belgium
  • 2016 July: New Pastoral Paradigms, Artist Talk, Open College of the Arts, Sheffield, England
  • 2016 June: Clear of People book presentation, PhotoBook Bristol, England
  • 2016 May: European Man panel discussion, Doc Field Barcelona, Spain
  • 2016 March: Contact Sheet Gallery, Sydney, Australia
  • 2016 March: Epic Journeys artist talk at Redeye, Manchester, England


Selected Articles