Natalia Papaeva

Photographer: Thijs Molenaar

Natalia Papaeva is a visual/time-based artist born and raised in Buryatia (Eastern Siberia) and based in the Netherlands. Her artistic process is set in motion with text – read or written – which then translates into movements, images, sounds. Often, her endangered birth language materializes in her practice. It brings the Buryat language from the domestic sphere into the public realm and by doing so she resists the notion of endangerment.
She holds a BA from the Royal Academy of Art, Hague. Natalia won the TENT Rotterdam Award for the best video work and KABK department prize for the best graduation project in 2018. In 2025 Natalia won Frans de Wit Prize and also the prize of Business Platform Schipholweg for the best sculpture. From 2022 to 2024 Natalia was a resident at Rijksakademie, Amsterdam. Her works have been shown at HKW, M HKA, Asian Biennial, Ulaanbaatar Biennial and other international platforms.