Marina Paulenka’s professional and personal achievements reveal her commitment to bringing photography to a wider audience and developing the medium. At the age of 22 Marina founded the Photographic Association Organ Vida in Zagreb with the intention of organising events dedicated to photography, exhibitions and gatherings for artists. These events soon gave birth to the photography festival Organ Vida.
Locally oriented at first, the event quickly took on an international character in response to the growing interest of the professional community. In 2019, after being the Artistic Director of Organ Vida for ten years, Marina received the Lucie Award for best curator / exhibition of the year.
Marina holds a MA in Photography from the University of Zagreb and brings experience from curating exhibitions, teaching at the Academy of Dramatic Arts in Zagreb, and serving as a jury member, nominator and portfolio reviewer on numerous projects. As an artist working with photography herself, Marina knows the medium inside out.
In 2019 Paulenka succeeded Emilia van Lynden as Artistic Director of the Amsterdam based annual photography fair, Unseen before it closed and subsequently began working as an independent curator, artist and educator.
