The Roots and Activities
My name is Zuzana Malina ÄŒernohousová. I am a lens-based artist, researcher, and curator based in Europe, moving since 2016 mainly between two places of my heart: Bohemia and Mallorca.
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Inspired by these inner and outer journeys, I founded the Photoillustrata project to develop artistic research with visual media, texts, and curatorial practice as my primary tools of communication.
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We live in visual times, where image and text together form our language.
A photograph, a moving image, or a fragment of text can become a poem, an essay, a document, or a pictorial expression.
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Photoillustrata projects connect a deep interest in local social, historical, and geographical contexts within Europe with a love for art, visual research, and cultural exchange.
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The roots of this vision are shaped by my own life philosophy and by the legacy of Archduke Ludwig Salvator of Tuscany—traveller, thinker, scientist, writer, protector of nature, and patron of the arts—who lived between Bohemia and Mallorca. His devotion to exploring and sharing knowledge of European islands was not only scientific but also an early form of cultural diplomacy, building bridges between regions, disciplines, and communities.In a contemporary way, I continue this tradition: developing creative stays, curatorial projects, and lens-based research across European localities to bring forward narratives about our common history, the origins of life, and the realities of the present.
Participation in Photoillustrata is open to collaborators—artists, researchers, writers—who wish to contribute their own visual language or curatorial approach. The aim is to design and present projects that respond to place, engage with European cultural memory, and enrich perspectives on contemporary life.