FK Artist – Maria Kapajeva

Maria Kapajeva (1976) is a London-based artist, who was born in Narva – the third biggest city in Estonia located on the border between Estonia and Russia. Kapajeva has studied photography at the University for the Creative Arts at Farnham and the University of Westminster in the UK. Her works have been showcased at Tate Liverpool and the Photographers’ Gallery, and she has participated in photography festivals in Tallinn, Kaunas, Minsk, Auckland, etc. Her photobook dummy Reading Apocrypha has been shortlisted for Unseen Award in Amsterdam.

In her works, where photography is often accompanied with video, found images and fabric, she mostly turns to the representation of women in contemporary society.

This summer Maria returned to Narva to work on a project about the once famous textile factory The Krenholm Manufacturing Company, where the artist’s mother used to work. The huge block of buildings, which was built in 1857, has been abandoned since the bankruptcy of the company in 2010.

Special thanks to Unknown Tone Records and artist Twincities (song Gentle Memory) for the music.