Robert Marnika – biography
FotoStudio: Via Murri 104 Bologna, Tel. 051 444 779 P.IVA 00101508885
1966 Born in Zadar, Croatia
His interest in photography started around the end of the 1980s whilst studying chemistry in Zagreb, when he started to have his work printed in student publications. He then broke off his studies started in 1986 to dedicate himself to photographic research.
On his return to Zadar he started to work with daily and weekly publications throughout Dalmatia, firstly as a photojournalist then later on the news desk of a weekly paper.
1991 The war in Croatia began, and despite his personal suffering and the unexpected scarcity of resources, he stayed on to document the daily horrors of the conflict despite risks to his own personal safety.
This proved to be the first big test for Robert the photographer involved first hand as both soldier and citizen under threat. That year the Croatian Ministry of Culture used many of his war pictures, printed with difficulty due to the lack of both water and electricity, in exhibitions in Germany & Japan. In Tokyo his pictures were amongst the first to draw the world’s attention to the otherwise forgotten conflict raging in Robert’s homeland.
1993 Robert moved to Italy, settling in Bologna in 1995, where he divided his time equally between agency work, freelance documentation, participation in some of the most important cultural events of the city and teaching photography in public sector schools.
2002 Working with the art and music cafés of Bologna Robert has his own personal exhibition in the Café de la Paix and oversaw the exhibition space in the Bar Wolf, being personally involved in the selection of artists and works to be exhibited in individual and collective reviews.
2006 Robert won first prize for his “Fragments of a memory” collection in Festival of Photography in Rome. The work was done mainly in a darkroom using discarded images from the war years. The recognition gained him access to the Portflio 2006 of Prato competiton, in which he won second prize in the Premio Kiwanis.
Robert continues to work as a freelance photographer and also runs courses in the basics of photography as well as advanced printing techniques. He continues to work as a photography lecturer in the Academy of Fine Arts in Bologna, as curator in the Bar Wolf – one of the most prestigious jazz clubs in Italy with a strong national and international reputation. Since 2002 he has been running Summer schools on the small Croatian island of Sestrunj: a setting far from the beaten tourist track and hustle and bustle of daily life.
Personal Exibitions
2009: FRAMMENTI DI UN RICORDO - Sala museale di Baraccano - Bologna
2009: VISITE - Galleria Sala Celeste - Bologna
2009: VISITE – Officine Fotografiche, Roma
2007: FRAMMENTI DI UN RICORDO [Fragments of a memory] – Fotoleggendo, Roma; FLUIDA – Galleria Blueroom, Reggio Emilia; FRAMMENTI DI UN RICORDO – Palazzo Medici Riccardi, Firenze; LA MIA GUERRA – Festa dell’Unità “Caserme Rosse”, Bologna; MARE – Centro Natura, Bologna;
2006: FRAMMENTI DI UN RICORDO – Portfolio2006, Prato LA PELLE DELL MARE – Libreria del mare, Palermo; QUADRUMIKI – Galleria Odradek, Roma
2005: IL FARSI E DISFARSI DEL CORPO - Galleria Comunale”Fienile”, Castel S. Pietro(Bo); ACQUA – Café de la Paix, Bologna;
2004: RIFLESSI…ONI – Libreria del mare, Palermo; REFLEXIONS TO SEA–“ConventGallery”,Daylesford(Melbourne), Australia; MARE NOSTRO QUOTIDIANO - Sala di città- San Lazzaro di Savena(BO).
2003: LIGHTBOX - Caffe Bar “Golem”, Bologna; BOLLICINE - “Wolf”pub, Bologna LA MIA GUERRA - Associazione fotografica”PICCOLO FORMATO”, Bologna MY WAR - “GALLERIE KRAFTWERK”, Berlin
2002: L’INCANTO DELLA PIETRA [The enchantment of stone] – Museo Archeologico di Marzabotto(Bo); PESCATORE - Galleria “Morsky” Zadar(Cro),
2001: PORTRAITS – Galleria della Grada, Bologna
2000: MIRA – Farmagia , Bologna
1999: RETROSPECTIVE - Centro culturale “L.G.S”, Bologna
1992: WAR DOCUMENTS - Karlsruhe (Germania), Tokyo (Giappone)
1991: PORTRAITS - Sibenik (Croazia),
Group exibitions
2009: Bologna: “Fourteen faces of art” – Sala Celeste
2003: Bologna: “My War” - Associazione fotografica”PICCOLO FORMATO”; Piacenza: “PROFONDITA’ E SUPERFICE”
2002: Bologna — “Trofeo Pontevecchio” - VILLA MAZZACORATI
2001: Caerano di San Marco(VE) — “Migrazioni” - VILLA BENZI ZECHINI,
2000: Bologna – “Immigrazione in città” - PALLAZZO D’ACURSIO, - VILLA SERENA, PALAZZO DEI NOTAI
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