Judges
Sandra Saito, is German and lives between Paris and Tokyo. After working in Marketing for Land Rover and BMW, Sandra has been active in the field of arts, cultural exchange and photography over the last 20 years. She has been coordinating exhibitions and cultural events between Europe and Japan.
Among other prestigious venues, she worked with the Guimet Museum in Paris, the City Hall of Berlin and Bunkamura, Tokyo. At IWPA, Sandra is responsible for the Award organisation and is a Board Member.
A graduate of the IEP in Paris and the London School of Economics, Rafael has a rich background in publishing and consulting. His experience includes working at Masson and contributing to the creation of arttoday.info. Since 2006, he has coordinated numerous special editions for the Beaux Arts group, showcasing his commitment to the arts and culture.
Rafael is currently the Editor-in-chief of Quotidien de l’Art, a prominent French arts publication within the Groupe Beaux Arts.
Based in her hometown, Tbilisi
Working on a personal, long term projects mostly in her country and post-soviet countries, focused on women’s and young girls’ rights,social and political topics.
In 2011 won KOLGA TBILISI PHOTO special author prize.
In 2012 won her first Production Grant from Open Society Foundation to Individual photographers from Central Asia, The South Caucasus ,Afghanistan, Mongolia and Pakistan and in the same year attend the workshop with Thomas Dworzak (Magnum Photos ),Yuri Kozirev (Noor Images) ,Adrian Kelterborn and Andrei Polikanov. In 2013 was selected among world 12 best young photographers to attend World Press Photo‘s Joop Swart Masterclass. It should be noted that Dina was first Georgian photographer who was ever selected and attended this event. In 2014 was selected as one of 30 best women photographers under the age of 30. In 2015 from PDN was named among 30 best emerging photographers to watch under the age of 30 and in the same year was finalist at Wallis Annenberg Prize.In 2016 was selected as APAD grant finalist. In 2017 won European Union Prize for Journalism for the Best Documentary photo. In 2018 won Multimedia Production Lab Grants for South Caucasian Female Photographers and Grant from Women’s Fund.In 2019 Won “Litera Award” for the best documentary book of the year “sHEROes” collaboration with writer Salome Benidze.In 2020 was selected as one of the finalist in International Women in Photography with her project #MeToo. In 2021 won an Award for Georgian equality champions for the same project as best visual production. In 2022 for the second time, won European Union Prize for best documentary photo reflecting EU Values for project “Mother Ukraine”. Her most famous long term projects are: “I Am Georgia“, “My Place “, “Frozen Waves“, “#MeToo” was exhibited around the world. Dina Oganova is an author of the first Georgian handmade limited edition in 87 copies photo book “My Place”, which is in the personal collection of several museums, including the Metropolitan Museum in New York City. Device always : « TAKING PHOTOS WITH LOVE »
Eric Schlosser was born in France. He started as an attorney at law, specialised in international law and intellectual property. His career in international projects and the arts spans over 20 years. He worked as Cultural Counsellor for the European Union and the French Embassy, overseeing and designing multiple projects in the visual and performing arts.
Moving away from the diplomatic world, he then started cooperating with several art fairs in different countries, as art director, or strategic consultant, while supporting several artists’ careers. He is currently the art director of Tbilisi Art Fair, and curates projects mainly in photography, the most recent one in cooperation with Fotografiska in support of emerging women photographers from Ukraine. He also advises on collections of contemporary art and photography and is a regular participant in art juries.
Evija Kotan is currently working for the EU Delegation to Georgia, where she covers issues related to democratic reforms, human rights, equality, and cultural diplomacy. She has worked for EU institutions since over ten years. Throughout her career, which included working for the EU Special Envoy for Afghanistan and the EU crisis response in Syria, Yemen, Iraq, and others, she always focused on promoting the community involvement in peace-building and conflict resolution. She has also actively promoted the role of art, culture and cultural heritage in the practice of diplomacy, peace-building and sustainable development.
Madrid, Spain, 1979
Graduated in Art History from the Complutense University of Madrid, Spain, a researcher and professor specializing in the history of photography and image analysis, María Santoyo accumulates almost twenty five years of experience in the cultural sector, and more than fifteen dedicated to directing and management of exhibition projects and specialized teaching and dissemination, activities that she has carried out independently since 2014.
She has recently been appointed as the new Director of the international photography and visual arts festival PHotoESPAÑA. In 2021, she founded Curiosa, a consulting company specialized in the application of new narratives in the educational and corporate field. She has combined her position as CEO with independent curating of exhibitions and the direction of the International Master’s Degree in Photography at EFTI school (2017-2023). Until 2022, she has been a member of the Fundación Telefónica Digital Culture Council, a think tank in charge of advising and supporting the Foundation in its contents and strategies in the fields of culture, thought and knowledge. She is currently a fellow of the Aspen Institute Spain, a recognition granted to a limited number of representatives of the academic, business, scientific and public sectors aimed at promoting enlightened leadership among young people between the ages of 35 and 45 who are committed to the future of society.
As a curator, she is responsible for more than twenty exhibitions seen to date in over sixty venues of eight countries. Her latest project Color: knowledge of the invisible is currently on tour in Latin America (Venezuela, Ecuador, México, Perú) after its first presentation at the Espacio Fundación Telefónica in Madrid. Between 2005 and 2010, she has coordinated projects for international institutions and experts such as the Aperture Foundation, Magnum Photos, Kathy Ryan or Trisha Ziff.
As a teacher, she has taught at the Higher Institute of Art, the Polytechnic University of Madrid, the European University, the Complutense University of Madrid, the University of Salamanca, NYU Madrid and EFTI. She is the author of several books specialized in photography and has collaborated with critical texts in various collective publications, in addition to advising international competitions such as Art for Change, Fotopres La Caixa, Descubrimientos PHotoESPAÑA or the Alliance Française International Photography Contest.
Since 2016, she has collaborated every year in projects by emerging creators that make hidden realities visible, a non-profit program that has contributed to promoting the careers of visual artists such as the Syrian Carole Alfarah or the Colombian Luis Carlos Tovar. She is also responsible for managing the Ragel Archive, a private collection with nearly 10,000 negatives from the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Atalanti Hadjipateras Moquette received a BA Hons. in Philosophy and Ancient Greek at King’s College London. She continued her postgraduate studies in Art History at the University of Toronto. Atalanti’s passions include education, art, philanthropy and women’s rights.
She started her career on the specialist side of Sotheby’s, London and has worked on art education policy in Toronto and Geneva.
Her involvement in the field of philanthropy follows a family tradition.
In 2009 Atalanti founded Giving Women, a network of diverse but like-minded women who pool their professional skills and experience to provide advice to strengthen projects directed at vulnerable girls and women globally.
Atalanti has sat on several boards including:
After her studies in art history, history and philosophy, Isabelle Mallez has shared her professional life between Paris and the international scene (Morocco, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy…). In parallel to an institutional career combining culture and international relations, as director of culture, advisor to the rector of Paris, consul, director of French institutes and cultural advisor, and today in charge of international relations at the Department of Cultural Affairs in Paris, she has regularly taught and provided expertise and cultural consulting.
President of UN Women France, member of the High Council for Equality, co-author of a book and reports on women in politics, Céline Mas has been a committed citizen for women’s rights, equality and mobilization in favor of this cause for fifteen years. She is also a writer and social entrepreneur. She is the co-founder of two impact projects: Love for Books, that share reading emotions and bibliotherapy methods to create positive impact in society, and Return for Society, a social impact consulting network. Her latest book is a novel about the phenomenon of burnout (« The Day Maya Got Up »). @Ohlivres
Leticia Maciel, director and founder of espace_L art gallery was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 1973.
She studied journalism and graduated with an MBA in retail.
Leticia has worked in different industries such as communications and publishing, before moving to Geneva in 2006.
In 2009 she enrolled a CAP Photography course. It allowed her to update with technology and french, and made her find a stage at the Centre de la Photographie Genève. An important experience in the Geneva art scene.
The creation of espace_L took place in 2011. Leticia’s goal was to present an original concept, a place « espace » for the exchange of ideas and encounters with an atelier side and a gallery program presenting a bridge between european and Brazilian contemporary art. Espace_L is not only a nod to Leticia’s name but also a play on words, « elle » in French, as Leticia is a strong advocate for women artists, regularly showing their works.
