JITKA HANZLOVA' - MIGRATION

Jitka Hanzlovà was born in 1958 in Nachov in the Czech Republic, and lives and works in Essen in Germany.

The portrait has a close relationship with the surrounding landscape in her work, with a special interest for immigrants and the subsequent cultural and religious differences. The limiting threshold and boundary for the author are represented by the psychological and social situation experienced by the immigrants. This condition also forms part of her personal life.

This is the how the artist describes her project for Storie urbane (Urban stories), entitled Migration:

"Boundary. Once, when I was living in Czechoslovakia, for me, the boundary was represented by an enormous wall, reaching the sky, which prevented a view of the world. At that time, I blew it up, I destroyed it, by leaving. Today, this boundary no longer exists, after almost 25 years. And right now, here in Reggio Emilia, I have been invited to address the theme of the boundary.

I thought about it and while I was asking myself whether to refer directly to Reggio Emilia or to extend my reflection to all of Europe, I noticed that there are a large number of immigrants in this town, as is the case in almost every part of the world. I decided to follow these migrations, which perhaps represent the least characteristic aspect of this region, which is so traditionalist, and therefore I will not focus on the traditional inhabitants, but on the new people, that today impress their mark on the town, people who frequently originate from very different and far-off places and who start a new life here, for the most varied of reasons. I would like to try to follow, in this small place, what happens in today's world: the mixing of nations".

[Extract from the interview made for the video-documentary entitled Molte città, Sguardi diversi (Many towns, Different views), produced for the European Photography Week ].

A number of solo exhibitions

• 2006 - Galerie Edition Kunsthandel GmbH, Essen
• 2006 - Forest, George Kargl, Vienna
• 2005 - Forest, JIRI SVESTKA GALLERY, Prague
• 2005 - Forest, Museum Folkwang, Essen
• 2003 - Angel Roww Gallery Nottingham
• 2002 - The Brixton Studio, The Photographer's Gallery, London
• 2001 - Female, JIRI SVESTKA GALLERY, Prague
• 2001 - 20/21, Essen
• 2001 - Galerie Annet Gelink, Amsterdam
• 2001 - Female, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam
• 2001 - Fotomuseum Winterthur
• 2001 - Galleria Raffaella Cortese, Milan
• 2000 - Deichtorhallen, Hamburg (catalogue)
• 2000 - Klemens Gasser & Tanja Grunert, New York
• 2000 - Grant Selwyn Fine Art, Beverly Hills
• 2000 - Annet Gelink Gallery (The Bakery), Amsterdam (conWineke van Muiswinkel)

A number of collective exhibitions

• 2004 - Photobienale Moscow 2004, The Moscow Museum of the Contemporary Art, Moscow
• 2004 - Secrets of the '90s, Museum voor Moderne Kunst, Arnheim
• 2004 - Die Welt als Ganzes, Centro de la Imagen, Mexico City, Mexico
• 2004 - Yet Untitled, Sammlung Bernd Kunne, Det Nationale Fotomuseum, Copenhagen
• 2003 - Innatura, X Bienale Internazionale di Fotografia, Torino, Italia
• 2003 - The Citibank Private Bank Photography Prize 2003, The Photographers' Gallery, London
• 2003 - Kunstpalast, Dusseldorf
• 2002 - Menschen-Bilder, Galerie Monika Reitz, Frankfurt
• 2002 - Overnight to Many Cities, The Photographers' Gallery, London
• 2002 - Fusion Cuisine, Deste Fondation, Athens
• 2002 - About Face, Gallery Yencey Richardson, New York
• 2001 - A Sense of Wellbeing, Palace of the Imperial Thermal Baths, Karlovy Vary
• 2001 - Instant City, Museo Pecci, Prato
• 2001 - About the Bayberry Bush, The Parrish Art Museum, South Hampton
• 2001 - I Love New York, Benefit Exhibition WTC, New York
• 2000 - Gallery Annet Gelink, Amsterdam
• 2000 - The Citibank Private Bank Photography Price 2000, The Photographers' Gallery, London
• 2000 - Das Vesprechen der Fotografie, Selections from the DG Bank Collection, Frankfurt
• 2000 - Akademie der Kunste, Berlin