BMW Photo Award Leipzig: Artist Talk mit Viktoria Binschtok

A conversation at the exhibitionwith award winner Viktoria Binschtok and curator Philipp Freytag

What’s it about?

Viktoria Binschtok (b. 1972, Moscow, Russia) grew up in Minden, Westphalia, and studied photography from 1995 to 2002 at the Academy of Visual Arts in Leipzig (HGB) under Timm Rautert. From 2002 to 2005, she completed her master’s studies under Rautert. 

The exhibition features works by Viktoria Binschtok from three series: *Networked Images* (2017–2022), *Typewriter Photographs* (2022/2023), and *Digital Semiotics* (2025/2026). 

In her most recent series, *Digital Semiotics*, Binschtok has explored hybrid forms of digital communication that bridge text and image, such as emojis, memes, hashtags, and the like. In doing so, the artist has specifically sought out ambiguous visual symbols. In a subsequent step, she sought out or created visual equivalents for these symbols in the analog realm, as in the case of the dollar bills folded into skulls. By transferring them into the analog realm—where the respective visual symbols take on different connotations—the ambiguity is further heightened.

The BMW Group and the MdbK have been presenting the BMW Photo Award Leipzig since 2024. Every two years, the award supports artists who either have a biographical connection to Leipzig and the region or whose artistic work engages with the city and its surroundings.

Free admission, no registration required