Martha Atienza

Martha Atienza (Philippines/ Netherlands, b. 1980) Born to a Dutch mother and Filipino father, Atienza has moved between both countries and cultures throughout her life. This duality has had a profound impact on her perspective as an artist. Atienza’s practice explores installation and video as a way of documenting and questioning issues around the environment, community, and development.

Atienza received her Bachelor in Fine Arts from the Academy of Visual Arts and Design in the Netherlands. She also participated at the art programme at the Kuvataideakatemia in Helsinki, Finland, in 2005. In 2017, Martha Atienza won the Baloise Art Prize in Art Basel for her seminal work “Our Islands.” She was the recipient of the Ateneo Art Awards in Manila in 2012 and 2016 and the prestigious Cultural Center of the Philippines Thirteen Artist Award in 2015. Recent biennales and triennials include the 17th Istanbul Biennial, Istanbul in 2022; Bangkok Art Biennale: Escape Routes, BACC, Bangkok in 2020); Honolulu Biennial: To Make Wrong / Right / Now, Oahu, Hawaii in 2019; and the 9th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, QAGOMA, Brisbane in 2018.  Her works were also part of recent group exhibitions in Dubai, Cincinnati, Hamburg, and New York.

She resides in both the Netherlands and the Philippines, depending on her projects.  She is currently investigating the usage of contemporary art as a tool for effecting social change and development.