Maria Elena Bonet

Visual artist / Filmmaker / Poetess

 

Born in Belarus, 1986

Based in Poland ⇄ Italy

 

Maria Elena Bonet is a multidisciplinary artist whose path is characterised by exploring themes of transition, historical continuity, and personal freedom. Maria’s work integrates historical photographic techniques with contemporary media, offering a nuanced interpretation of current events within both personal and universal historical contexts.

 

Born in Minsk in 1986, and having studied design and photography at the Belarusian State Art Academy, Maria honed her skills under the guidance of mentors like Albert Tsehanovich and Andrei Voskresenski. Since 2007, she has specialised in analogue photography and alternative photographic techniques, such as gum bichromate, tin process, and cyanotype. These techniques serve as the foundation for her distinct artistic language, characterised by its poetic depth and ability to reveal the essence of her subjects.

 

Maria's artistic evolution has been intertwined with her personal experiences and reflections on national identity. Her project My River emerged from deep spiritual and creative explorations, addressing themes of ancestral memory, personal wounds, and resilience amidst adversity. This work laid the foundation for Betrothal to the Sea, where Maria continued to explore themes of freedom and personal liberation on the Baltic Sea in Gdansk, having moved to Poland after winning Gaude Polonia scholarship in 2021. This project, deeply rooted in her earlier endeavours, serves as a natural progression in her artistic journey.

 

Recognized for her dedication and innovation, Maria has created over 10 art projects and exhibited extensively across Europe. Since 2017, she has also shared her expertise through master classes on manual photography, further cementing her influence in the artistic community. Her multimedia approach, incorporating video, sound, and light alongside traditional photography, has broadened the scope of her artistic endeavors, leading to representation by esteemed galleries in France and Spain.

 

Maria Elena Bonet's accolades include winning the Month of Photography in Grenoble and being featured at the Valdarno Cinema Film Festival in Italy. Her academic pursuits include completing a theoretical research on contemporary manual photography at the University of Warsaw under the K. Kalinowski Scholarship Program in 2023. Having moved to Italy that same year, Maria took up organic sculpture as her new creative endeavor and is currently working on a large-scale project "Tu sei il Giardino".

 

Achievements:

2024 sculpture ‘13th Bozzolo’, the COMEL Arte Contemporanea Award, Latina, Italy, finalist and Special mention

2021 the Source series, Month of Photography, Grenoble, France, 1st place winner

2021 video My River, short film competition, Valdarno Cinema Film Festival,  Cinema Masaccio di San Giovanni, Valdarno, Italy

2020 My River project nominated for the National Fine Arts Award: Art Photography, Minsk, Belarus. Maria Bonet withdrew the project from the competition in solidarity with a censored artist and the victims of state violence in Belarus

2020 1st place winner of the National Competition Art of the Book, design of the book Savva Sivko by N. Savchenko, Minsk

2017 Maria's artwork is included in the top 100 original photographs of the 19th–21st centuries, from the 2002-2017 collection of the State Museum and Exhibition Center ROSPHOTO in St. Petersburg. 

2009  2nd place winner of the republican project Minsk Pictures: Private Life,  NOVA Gallery, Minsk

 

Laureate of scholarships:

2023 Artistic Scholarship of Villa Decius Institute for Culture, Poland

2022 Cultural Scholarship of the City of Gdansk, Poland; the Marshal of the Pomeranian Voivodeship for artistic projects, Poland; K. Kalinowski Scholarship Program, Poland

2021 Gaude Polonia,  the programme of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, Poland

 

 

Solo exhibitions:

Betrothal to the Sea

2024  Chiesa di Santa Maria Maggiore / Sant’Elia Fiumerapido, Italy

2023  Instytut Kultury Willa Decjusza / Krakow, Poland

 

My River

2023  Młyny Rothera / Bydgoszcz, Poland 

2022  Ujazdowski Castle Centre for Contemporary Art / Warsaw, Poland

2022  Instytut Kultury Willa Decjusza / Krakow, Poland

2020  ZAl#2, Palace of Art / Minsk, Belarus  

 

Home

2021  La Chapelle de Rosaire, le festival Promenade Photographique de Yenne / France

2012  National Historical Museum / Minsk, Belarus 

 

There is nothing that could not be a cloud 

2019  ROOMS / Minsk, Belarus  

 

Marionetta 

2017  Gallery "Art-Belarus" / Minsk, Belarus 

 

Night and Day

2015  Museum of Contemporary Art / Minsk, Belarus 

The main collective exhibitions:

 

•  Alluminio, sotto la Superficie, Spazio COMEL Arte Contemporanea / Latina, Italy / 2024

•  Things Take Time, Dark Gallery CPH / Copenhagen, Denmark / 2024

•  Gdansk Biennale of Art, Gdansk City Gallery / Gdansk, Poland / 2023 

•  Video projection of the My River project within OKO orchestra performance – SPRAVA Festival, White Church / Belarus / 2021

•  Le Mois de la Photo – Ancien musée de Peinture / Grenoble, France / 2021

    Long list in 2020

•  Promenade Photographique de Yenne – la Chapelle de Rosaire / Yenne, France / 2021

•  Photo-Art Festival MOST-21 – Palace of Arts / Minsk, Belarus / 2021

•  Hostages – New Belarus Art project – St. Petri Kirche / Hamburg, Germany / 2020

•  Correspondances – La Galerie Rouge / Paris, France / 2020

•  International Art festival Art-Minsk – Palace of Arts / Minsk, Belarus / 2018, 2019, 2020

•  Libros-objeto/Cajas de autor – Desvan Blanco space gallery / Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain / 2019

•  Autumn salon with Belgazprombank – Palace of Arts / Minsk, Belarus / 2019 – 2016

•  La Passeggiata – Galerie Agathe Galliard / Paris, France  / 2019

•  Lyubchansky region. People and time – The National Historical Museum / Minsk, Belarus / 2019

•  Today and tomorrow. Young artist from Belarus – Arka gallery / Vilnius, Lithuania / 2018

•  ROSPHOTO’s 15th Anniversary Exhibition – the best original photos, received in the collection from 2002 to 2017 – the State Russian Museum and Exhibition Centre ROSPHOTO / Saint-Petersburg, Russia / 2017

•  Open Youth – Palace of Arts / Minsk, 2017

•  Photo project The Odyssey – National Center for Contemporary Arts / Minsk, 2017

•  Photogram and Gum arabic – Mastatski Mayontak / Minsk, 2016

•  International exhibition dedicated to the 155th anniversary of the first color photography Aspiration for color – the State Russian Museum of Photography / Nizhny Novgorod, 2016

•  Project Likht-Art – Gallery of the Belarusian Union of Designers / Minsk, 2015

•  International Festival of Pinhole Photography Playing Classics – Museum of the Belarusian Cinema History / Minsk, 2015

•  Polonaise – Republican exhibition dedicated to the 250th anniversary of Michal Kleofas Oginsky – Palace of Arts /  Minsk, 2015

•  Steps – Gallery” University of Culture” / Minsk, 2015

•  The Minsk School of Photography. 1960’s–2000’s – The State Russian Museum and Exhibition Centre ROSPHOTO /  Saint-Petersburg, 2014

•  International Exhibition Photo Project – Cultural and Exhibition Center The Tenishevs / Smolensk, 2014

•  Photo project Metamorphosis – The National Historical Museum / Minsk, 2012

•  Photomania – International Photographic Biennale / Kaliningrad, 2011

•  Photo project Continuation – Museum of Contemporary Art / Minsk, 2010

•  Minsk Pictures: Private Life – NOVA Gallery / Minsk, 2009

Publications:

 

2021 • From the Riverbed series. 2019. Music for the Dead and Resurrected / Musik för de döda och återuppståndna  by Valzhyna Mort / Nirstedt, Stockholm, Sweden

2020 • From the Mistletoe series. 2012. Aquarium / Акварыум by Siarhiej Kalenda, Minsk 
2018 – 2020 • catalog Art-Minsk
2019, 2010 • Bolshoi magazine, Minsk
2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 • catalogues Autumn Salon with Belgazprombank, Minsk
2016 • album-catalogue The local design. Persons and objects, Minsk
2014 • album-catalogue The Minsk School of Photography. 1960’s–2000’s, Saint-Petersburg
2014 • album Metamorphoses, Minsk
2014 • album-catalogue Volga Biennale-2014, Nizhny Novgorod
2010 • album Continuation, Minsk
2009 • album Minsk photos private life, Minsk

 

Maria's works are in collections of: Villa Decius Cultural Institute, Krakow, Poland; National Center for Contemporary Arts, Minsk;  Art-Belarus Gallery, Minsk, The State Russian Museum and Exhibition Centre ROSPHOTO, Saint-Petersburg; The State Russian Museum of Photography, Nizhny Novgorod and in private collections around the world.