About
Corinne Silva (Leeds, UK) is an interdisciplinary artist based in London and Athens.
Working across photography, moving image, textiles and installation, Silva engages ecologies of land, communities and colonisation, making visible fractures of historic violence as well as strategies of survival and resistance. Grounded in deep research and engagement with places and their inhabitants – human, animal, plant and mineral – her practice weaves together materials, mythologies and multi-sensorial experience to create new spaces of critical inquiry and knowledge transmission, moving beyond the re-presentation of landscape towards fostering the reparative conditions for its re-making.
In her lens-based work, Silva interrogates the presumed empiricism of a western gaze that dominates landscape photography and, by implication, our relation to land and histories of human intervention. Presenting fragmented images, startling juxtapositions and non-human perspectives, she substitutes a multiplicity of frames in place of a detached vista or singular point of view. In Garden State (2016) a panoply of photographs investigate the use of landscaping to claim territory and naturalise a new, violent order. The Score (You and I Both Know) (2023) and Wounded (2016) uncover histories of conflict through serial images and sonic environments, revealing traces of trauma inscribed in surrounding treescapes, and their potential for recovery. Recent video installations, Night Circuits (2018) and Flames Among Stones (2019-22), continue the exploration of intersections of the wild and cultivated, incorporating mythology that imparts life wisdom and warnings. The works offer new narrative possibilities for survival in the wake of structural violence, particularly through the transmission of marginalised knowledges, women’s and indigenous and other-than-human.
In her newest projects, textiles of plant and earth-dyed fabrics, rich in symbolism (including Wallcurtain (Our Mother’s Gardens), shown as part of Flames Among Stones installation 2022) and a site-specific installation of fired terracotta tiles co-created with a community (Once There Was and Once There Wasn’t, 2024) represent a continuation of Silva’s longstanding interest in ecologies of the land and socially-engaged practice, and emphasise the material-based, embodied aspects of her practice.
Silva gained her doctorate from University of the Arts London in 2014 and held the posts of Research Fellow and Senior Lecturer within UAL’s Photography and the Archive Research Centre (2014-2023). She was Artist Consultant for international research project Picturing Climate (2018-2020) and artist in residence at Darat al Funun, Amman (2016 & 2017); Aktuelle Architektur Der Kultur, Spain (2015); Kaunas Photography Gallery, Lithuania, (2014); and A.M. Qattan Foundation Ramallah, (2013 & 2014). Her monograph Garden State was published in 2016 by Ffotogallery and The Mosaic Rooms. In 2014 she received a Triangle International Fellowship. In 2012 she was a FOAM Paul Huf Award nominee and a Mac First Book Award finalist.
Her work has been shown in group and solo exhibitions at Institut Valencià d'Art Modern, Zarya Center for Contemporary Art, Vladivostok; Darat al Funun, Amman; Pushkin House, London; Lishui Art Museum, China; Centro National de las Artes, Mexico City; Ffotogallery, Wales; The Mosaic Rooms, London; Musée de l'Elysée, Lausanne, Switzerland; Makan Art Space, Amman; Kunstbezirk, Stuttgart, Germany; Leeds Art Gallery, UK; Noorderlicht Photofestival, Netherlands; and Manifesta 8, Murcia, Spain.
Recent exhibitions include The Score (You and I Both Know) The Arcade, King’s College London (2023) and the 8th Thessaloniki Biennial, Being as Communion (2023).
Solo and Duo Exhibitions
2023 The Score (You and I Both Know) The Arcade, King’s College London
2015 Garden State, Ffotogallery, Wales
2015 Garden State, The Mosaic Rooms, London (monograph)
2014 Gardening the Suburbs, Makan Art Space, Amman, Jordan
2017 Plant/Lives, collaboration with Eva Sajovic, Darat al Funun, Amman, Jordan
2016 Five Hundred Flowers and the Mother Plant, collaboration with Eva Sajovic, Lower Gallery, London College of Communication, University of the Arts London
2012 Uneven Development, with Jason Larkin, Brighton Photo Biennial, UK (catalogue)
2010 Journeys out…Journeys, with Mariele Neudecker, Leeds Art Gallery, UK
2009 Wandering Abroad, Leeds Art Gallery, Leeds, UK (catalogue)
2008 Croydonisation, Museum of Croydon, London
2008 Róisín Bán, Leeds City Museum, Leeds, UK (monograph)
Selected Group Exhibitions
2023 Biennale A Dobradiça - Encontros Contemporâneos, Mação, Portugal, curated by Cécile Bourne-Farrell
2023 Civilization: The Way We Live Now, Saatchi Gallery, London
2023 8th Thessaloniki Biennale of Contemporary Art, Being as Communion, curated by Maria-Thalia Carras
2022 There is Nothing Inevitable About Time, Tavros, Athens, curated by Maria-Thalia Carras
2021 The Other Stories, Istanbul Bilgi University, Santral Istanbul Energy Museum, curated by Denizhan Özer
2021 Planted in the Body, MeetFactory, Prague, curated by Clelia Coussonnet and Tereza Jindrova
2020 Resilience, an aptitude, Iréne Laub Gallery, Brussels, curated by Cécile Bourne-Farrell
2020 Visual Rights, Open Eye Gallery, Liverpool, curated by Gary Bratchford
2019 Leave No Stone Unturned [Remuer la terre], Le Cube, Rabat, curated by Clelia Coussonnet
2019 Visible Justice, London College of Communication, curated by Max Houghton & David Birkin
2019 Her Ground: Women Photograph Landscape, Flowers Gallery, London, curated by Hannah Hughes and Lieve Beumer
2018 Habitar el Mediterráneo, Institut Valencià d'Art Modern, Spain, curated by Pedro Azara (catalogue)
2018 Metageography 3: Orientalism and Dreams of Robinsons Zarya Center for Contemporary Art, Vladivostok, curated by Nikolay Smirnov
2018 NEW:DEFENCE, Coalhouse fort, Essex, UK. curated by Gemma Padley
2017 Metageography: Space – Image – Action, Pushkin House, London, curated by Nikolay Smirnov, Kirill Svetlyakov and Olga Jürgenson
2017 reGeneration3, Lishui Art Museum, China
2016 reGeneration3, Centro National de las Artes, Mexico City
2015 reGeneration3, Museo Amparo, Puebla, Mexico
2015 reGeneration3, FORMAT Festival, QUAD Gallery, Derby, UK
2015 Into the Light artist video screening, London Transport Museum, UK
2015 reGeneration3, Musée de l’Elysée, Lausanne, Switzerland (catalogue)
2015 In/Visible Cities, 198 Contemporary Arts & Learning, London
2015 Documenting Britain, Streetlevel Photoworks, Gallery 103, Glasgow, Scotland (catalogue)
2014 My Sister Who Travels, Mosaic Rooms, London (catalogue)
2013 I See Europe! Kunstbezirk, Fotosommer Stuttgart 2013, Germany (catalogue)
2012 The World in London, The Photographer’s Gallery offsite exhibition
2011 Open Here, Hereford Photography Festival, UK
2011 Flash Forward Festival, Toronto, Canada & Boston, USA (catalogue)
2011 Ways of Looking photography festival, Bradford, UK (catalogue)
2010 Imported Landscapes, Manifesta 8 Paralelos, Murcia, Spain
2010 Reading Landscape, Architectural Association, London
2010 Noorderlicht International Photofestival, Leuwarden, The Netherlands (catalogue)
2010 Flash Forward Festival, Toronto, Canada (catalogue)
2010 Projected Landscapes, Architectural Association, London
2009 Noorderlicht International Photofestival 2009, Groningen, The Netherlands (catalogue)
2006 Róisín Bán, Format Photography Festival, Derby, UK (monograph)
Selected Projects and collaborations
2022 Rocks & Fortresses: The Sailor, Festival of Mediterranean Citizens, Catania, Sicily
2019 All Rise for the Planet people’s court. Plan B, People’s Bureau, Extinction Rebellion, 198 Contemporary Arts & Learning and others, Tate Modern’s Tate Exchange
2019 Picturing Climate international arts and knowledge exchange project led by the Open University and partners including Riera Studio, Havana, culminating in a programme at Tate Modern’s Tate Exchange
Selected articles, essays and reviews
2020 Colin McLaughlin-Alcock ‘Cultivated Affects The Artistic Politics of Landscape and Memory in Amman’s Gardens’ Visual Anthropology review, Volume 36, Issue 2, Fall 2020
2019 Martina Caruso, ‘Conversing with Ghosts of the Previously Tamed’ ESPACE art actuel, no. 121 (Winter 2019)
2019 Financial Times Weekend Magazine photography special: NATURE, featuring Garden State with essay by Shela Sheikh
2019 Lines in the Landscape, Corinne Silva and Val Williams, Landscape Now, Issue 10, Autumn 2018, British Art Studies
2018 Photography Reframed: New Visions in Contemporary Photographic Culture. Editors: Ben Burbridge, Annebella Pollen, Landscape Photography's 'New Humanism', Chad Elias ISBN 9781784538828, I.B. Tauris
2016 Book review: Corinne Silva: Garden State, by Francesca Laura Cavallo, Camera Austria, Issue 135
2016 Book review: Garden State by Corinne Silva, Hans Durrer, F-Stop Magazine
2015 Nature's Image, Corinne Silva, Garden State, Ffotogallery, by Eugenie Shinkle, Source photographic review, Source 82 - Spring 2015
2015 A window onto Israeli settlers’ gardens, Amelia Smith, The Middle East Monitor
2015 Stamping a new identity on Palestine’s landscape, Sarah Irving, The Electronic Intifada
2014 Aesthetica magazine, Issue 60, August / September 2014
2013 Zoom magazine, Winter 2013, #109 International Edition, Landscape Special Issue
2012 Spaces of Global Capital: On the Photography of Corinne Silva & Jason Larkin, TJ Demos, Photoworks 19, ISBN 9781903796368
2012 Visible Economies: Photography, Economic Conditions, Urban Experiences, Eugenie Shinkle“Visible Economies, Invisible Topographies” ISBN 9781903796481
2013 Landscape Photography's 'New Humanism', Chad Elias , Either/And, National Media Museum
2012 Reflections on Corinne Silva's Wandering Abroad,Lauren Rotenberg, New Media Gallery
2012 Corinne Silva in-conversation with Edwin Coomisaru and Charley Lintern, New Media Gallery
2012 Corinne Silva: The Uncompromising Image,Tom Snow, New Media Gallery
2009 Quiet Flows the Aire, Nigel Walsh, Wandering Abroad catalogue
2008 British Journal of Photography, 29.10.08
2006 Ag International Journal of Photographic Art and Practice, Autumn 06, Number 45
2006 Irish Arts Review, Autumn 06, Vol. 23, Issue 3
2006 Guardian G2, 10.05.06
2006 AN magazine, 05.06
Publications
2018 Habitar el Mediterráneo, Institut Valencià d’Art Modern
2016 Garden State, Ffotogallery and The Mosaic Rooms ISBN 978-1-872771-58-8
2015 ReGeneration3, Musée de l’Elysée
2014 My Sister Who Travels, The Mosaic Rooms, London
2011 Ways of Looking: Evidence ISBN 0-906361-22-2
2011 Flash Forward: Emerging Photographers 2011 ISBN 9781926856032
2010 Flash Forward: Emerging Photographers 2010 ISBN 9781926856025
2010 Land: Country Life in the Urban Age, Noorderlicht Photofestival ISBN 9789076703435
2009 Wandering Abroad ISBN 9780901981837
2009 The Pursuit of Happiness, ISBN 978-90-76703-40-4
2006 Róisín Bán, ISBN 0955252903 (monograph)
Awards/ bursaries/ residencies/ commissions
2023 Culture Moves Europe grant, Creative Europe programme of the European Union and Goethe Institute
2021 i-Portunus Houses Award, European Cultural Foundation (Amsterdam) Kultura Nova Foundation (Zagreb) MitOst (Berlin)
2020 Arts Council England award
2019 i-Portunus Artist Mobility Award, Creative Europe programme of the European Union
2018 Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art research support grant
2016 Artist in residence, Darat al Funun, The Khalid Shoman Foundation, Amman
2015 Six ‘filmpoems’ commissioned for The Poetry Society, London on National Poetry Day 2015
2015 Artist in residence, Aktuelle Architektur Der Kultur (AADK), Murcia, Spain
2014 Artist in residence, Kaunas Photography Gallery, Lithuania
2014 Artist in residence, A.M. Qattan Foundation, Ramallah
2013 Artist in residence, A.M. Qattan Foundation, Ramallah
2012 Mac First Book Award, finalist
2012 FOAM Paul Huf Award, nominated
2012 Plat(f)form, Fotomuseum Winterthur, Switzerland
2011 Magenta Foundation Flash Forward Award
2011 Arts and Humanities Research Council travel bursary
2010 Magenta Foundation Flash Forward Award
2009 University of Brighton Santander-Abbey travel bursary
2008 Arts Council England Award
2006 New Artists’ Collaborations bursary, Artist’s Information Company
2004 Home Office Connecting Communities grant
2004 Heritage Lottery Fund grant
Research, Lecturing and Mentoring
2022-23 Artist Mentor, Photoworks, UK, mentoring artists as part of Photoworks & Historic England project
2019-23 Senior Lecturer, London College of Communication, University of the Arts London. PhD supervisor and research student programme lead for Photography and the Archive Research Centre
2018-19 Artist Consultant for Picturing Climate research project with the Open University and grassroots arts organisations in Cuba, Bosnia, Jordan & the UK, and public programme at Tate Modern’s Tate Exchange
2018-19 Research Fellow, Photography and the Archive Research Centre, LCC, University of the Arts London
2014-18 Post Doctoral Research Fellow, Photography and the Archive Research Centre LCC, University of the Arts London
2010- 2014 Practice-based PhD at University of the Arts London College of Communication, affiliated to Photography and the Archive Research Centre and supported by a four-year Arts and Humanities Research Council Doctoral Award. Thesis title: Dreamlands and Ecotones: How can a photographic language be constructed to explore the politics of landscape on the political equator?
Selected artist talks / conference papers / in conversations / screenings
2024 Artist talk: Garden States, landscapes shaped by conflict and resilience, Why Remember?: Reframing Trauma multidisciplinary conference, Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina
2023 Flames Among Stones, screening and in-conversation with curator Cécile Bourne-Farrell, biennale A Dobradiça - Encontros Contemporâneos, Mação, Portugal
2021 Artist talk: Trees and Bodies in Destruction and Resistance, Corinne Silva and Marta Popivoda, Toxic Lands curatorial programme/British Council, curated by Armina Pilav
2020 Visualising Climate Change symposium, Episode 1: Climate Change and the Female Gaze, VII Photo Agency
2019 Artist talk, Le Cube independent art space, Rabat
2019 Foreigness, screening programme curated by Olga Jürgenson, KUMU Art Museum of Estonia
2017 Landscape Now conference, with Val Williams, Yale Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art
2017 Panel discussion Spatial Justice, Tate Exchange and People’s Bureau, Tate Modern
2016 Artist talk with Eva Sajovic and Melanie King, University of the Arts Philosophy Society, London College of Communication
2016 Artist talk, Oluwale Now: Remembering Human Rights in an Age of Crisis, University of Leeds, with Kasia Boddy, George McKay, Caryl Phillips and Gary Young
2016 Artist talk, Eating the Bones: an Exploration of the Politics of Planting Through an Embodied Art Practice, Courtauld Institute of Art, London
2015 Artist talk, Botanical Conflicts: Colonialism, Photography and the Politics of Planting Goldsmith, University of London
2015 Artist talk, Temporal School of Experimental Geography Symposium: Artists in the Field - Ephemeral Landscapes and Experimental Geographies, Parasol Unit, London
2015 Artist talk, Temporal School of Experimental Geography Symposium Artists in the Field, as part of Explore 2015, Royal Geographical Society
2015 Panel discussion: The Hopes in Which We Worked: UK Artists in Palestine, Judy Price, Corinne Silva and Joy Stacey, chaired by Edwin Coomasaru, Fabrica, Brighton, UK
2015 Corinne Silva in conversation with Julian Stallabrass, The Mosaic Rooms, London
2015 Corinne Silva in conversation with Fiona Rogers, Photo London, Somerset House, London
2015 Artist talk, Shadows symposium, Camberwell College of Art, London
2014 Panel discussion with Jananne Al-Ani, Halida Boughriet, Ursula Schulz-Dornburg, chaired by Rebecca Heald, The Mosaic Rooms, London
2014 New Visual Languages: Landscape, Politics & the Lens, Corinne Silva in conversation with Eugenie Shinkle, The Mosaic Rooms, London
2014 Keynote lecture, 'Gardening the Suburbs: The Politics of Planting and the Language of Landscape in Palestine/Israel', The American and British Nations in Contemporary Landscape Photography symposium, University of Nantes, France
2013 Artist talk, Everywhere and Nowhere: New Photographic Encounters with Space, Place and Dislocation symposium, Plymouth University, UK
2013 Artist talk, Tate Britain, Urban Encounters: Urban Materialities symposium, London
2013 Artist talk, Sensingsite, Parasol Unit, London
2013 Artist talk/conference paper, ‘Re-contested Sites/Sights’ Conference, University of the Arts London, UK
2012 Screening & in-conversation led by Lauren Rotenberg, Centre for the Study of Contemporary Art & UCL History of Art Society, London
2012 Panel discussion, Photography Beyond the Gallery Brighton Photo Biennial, Opening Weekend Symposium, Brighton, UK
2012 Artist talk, Visible Economies: Photography, Economic Conditions and Urban Experiences symposium, University of Brighton, UK
2012 Artist talk/conference paper, Contested Sites/Sights conference, University of the Arts London, UK
2012 Artist talk/conference paper, Water: Image conference, Plymouth University, UK
2011 Wandering Abroad screening and in conversation with curator Nigel Walsh, Ways of Looking photography festival, Bradford, UK