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Anna Phaidra A. Hijmans is an interdisciplinary artist with a focus on sculpture, illustration, and interactive installation. Through a mixture of histories, folklore, and cultural ecology, she seeks to explore how modern magical realisms lend meaning to contemporary societies. Her interest lies especially in the blurry space between the human and non-human, as she considers relations between symbols such as the house, birds/dogs, plants, wood, shells and shed skin, televisions, and other entanglements. Ultimately she seeks to create intimate spaces that tap into and let be the struggle between reality and unreality. It is this ‘in-between’ that becomes a unique ground for exploring the mythologies of the everyday, and their role in understanding life and the making of meaning in the worlds of the Anthropocene.
2022 - 2024 | Humboldt Universität zu Berlin | Masters of Arts Global Studies | “I wait while I Decry the wait!”
2024 | Illustrator for Experimental Animation | Berlin, DE/Amsterdam, NL | Lead illustrator for an animation project under Elliot Bloom, seeking to visualise experiences of urban maximisation and the production of isolation.
2023 | UNFAIR | Amsterdam, NL | Exhibited a collection of works titled; ‘Relics of the Anthropocene’, at Unfair Amsterdam Gashouder Fabriek for their jubilee year.
2023 | Study Semester India | New Delhi, IN | Research semester at Jawaharlal Nehru University under Dr. Suryanandini Narain and Dr. Harish Naraindas with a primary cultural-theoretical focus on visual cultures, human-animal relations, and the nexus of Science, Magic, and Religion.
2022 | Study Semester South Africa | Pretoria, SA | Research semester at the University of Pretoria under Dr. Sepetla Molapo and Dr. Glen Ncube, with a cultural-theoretical focus on Art and environmental/colonial histories in a Sub-African context.
2022 | Colloquium exchange | Warsaw, PL | Participated in a research exchange in Warsaw under Dr. Selma Bidlingmaier with emphasis on eco-criticism in the literatures of the Asian Diaspora.
2021 - 2022 | Drift Philosophy Festival | Amsterdam, NL | Completed a video project with ‘Drift’ Philosophy Festival; researched themes of Actor Network theory, Ontological Symmetry and Anthropocentrism.
2021 | Archaeological Field School | Narthaki, GR | Volunteered at an archaeological field school run by Professor Margriet Haagsma and University of Alberta. Aided in classifying material finds, mapping and surveying land, quantifying research data and re-assembling found artefacts.
2021 | Extrapool ‘Iets Met Dieren’ | Nijmegen, NL | Participated in an exhibition project with art space ‘Extrapool’ titled Iets Met Dieren. Focusing on relationships between human and non-human animals.
2021 | Royal Academy Newspaper | The Hague, NL | Wrote for, and led, the revival of the student-organised newspaper ‘Mosquito’ at the Royal Academy in The Hague.
2020 - 2021 | Editing | The Hague, NL | Thesis editor for students at the Royal Academy in The Hague.
2020 | Online Exhibition ‘Click Here’ | The Hague, NL
2020 | ‘A Finger in Every Pie’ | The Hague, NL | Artist and member of the curating team that organised an independent group exhibition for the Royal Academy graduating class.
2020 | Corona Clay project | The Hague, NL | Worked with a team of artists in the area of the Hague to discuss, create, and research the interpersonal and social effects of the Covid-19 virus.
2018-2021 | Sol Invictus | The Hague, NL | Illustrator and designer for the Cover and Catalogues of the book Sol by Professor Steven Hijmans.
2019 | Exhibition with Sarah Dietz ‘I Want to Stay Home’ | Gallery 4 | The Hague, NL
2019 | Artist Assistant - Agnes Scherer | The Hague, NL | Agnes Scherer’s assistant for The Salty Testament exhibition at art space 1646. Aided in detailing sculptural elements and completing installation work.
2019 | Research Project | Hong Kong | Independent field research in Hong Kong on the abandoned indigenous Hakka villages of the New Territories.
2018 | Group Exhibition ‘Bonuskaart’ | Trixie | The Hague, NL
2018 | Assistant - Archaeological Exhibition Kastro Kallithea | Larissa, GR | Assisted in the realisation of the archaeological exhibition Kastro Kallithea: Visualising Life in an Ancient City with Margiet Haagsma and the University of Alberta.
2018 | Internship 1646 | The Hague, NL | Worked with several artists during an internship at experimental art space 1646, including Yair Callender and Christopher Kline. Aided in exhibition and material preparation, and organisation of the reception.
Awards and Nominations
- 2023 Recipient of the Prins Bernhardt Fund for study in South Africa and India - Netherlands/Germany
- 2022 Awarded Promos Scholarship for study in South Africa - Germany
- 2022 Recipient Alexander Rutherford Award - Edmonton
- 2021 Recipient BA Fine Arts Department Award - Royal Academy of Arts, The Hague
- 2021 Heden Start Award Nominee - Royal Academy of Arts, The Hague
- 2021 KABK Bachelor of Arts Award Nominee - Royal Academy of Arts, The Hague