Booth Event – Artist Talk: Zula Rabikowska, Vera Hadzhiyska & Michaela Nagyidaiova

Contemporary Eastern European Photography talk

This conversation brings together three artists from across Eastern Europe and its diaspora to explore the shifting cultural, political, and artistic landscapes of the region. Vera Hadzhiyska, Bulgarian artist, curator, and educator, reflects on her practice navigating post-socialist realities and the role of education in shaping contemporary art. Michaela, a Slovak artist based in Vienna, discusses her work at the intersection of memory, migration, and identity, highlighting how displacement and cross-border experiences inform artistic production. Zula Rabikowska, Polish photographer and curator based in London, considers photography as a medium for rethinking narratives of belonging, community, and marginality.

Together, they interrogate the stereotypes and simplified narratives often applied to “Eastern Europe,” discussing how art can challenge these perceptions, foreground nuanced voices, and create new frameworks for understanding the region’s diversity. The talk offers audiences insight into the multiplicity of Eastern European identities, the intersections of personal and political histories, and the collaborative possibilities that emerge when artists from different contexts come together

Presented by Rethinking Eastern Europe