Olena Newkryta (*1990, Ukraine) is a visual artist based in Vienna whose practice is rooted in moving images and multi-media installations. Her research-based works investigate the material, historical, and socio-political dimensions of the techno-social environment we inhabit, addressing specifically the incorporation of human labour in technological infrastructures. Through films, installations and textiles she has been examining the tensions between tech capitalism and resilient gestures, isolated individuals and connected digital networks, processes of invisibilisation and image making. Inspired by glitches, techno-feminist theory and the emancipatory potential of communal practice, her works seek to establish perspectives that rupture hegemonic narratives and open realms of seeing and imagining otherwise.
Olena studied at the University of Applied Arts Vienna (AT) as well as at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam (NL) and is a member of The Golden Pixel Cooperative - a Vienna based association for moving images, arts and media. She was an artist in residence at the Est-Nord-Est résidence d’artistes (Canada, 2023) and the Jan van Eyck Academie (Netherlands, 2024). She is currently a participant at the Pixel, Bytes + Film program of the Federal Ministry for Arts, Culture, the Civil Service & Sport and recipient of the joint production and research residency AFTERLIFE by Rupert (Vilnius) and Sonic Acts (Amsterdam) which will take place in 2026.
Her practice has been awarded with prizes and grants such as the Outstanding Artist Award for Media Arts (2024), Pixel, Bytes + Film scholarship (2025), Price of the City Duisburg for the Best Short and Middle Length Documentary Film (2023), Working Grant of the City of Vienna (2022), START scholarship of the Federal Ministry for Culture (2019), Award of the Kunsthalle Wien (2017). Her works have been presented at international exhibitions, screenings, and biennials, including WRO Media Art Biennale Wrocław, EYE Filmmuseum Amsterdam, Kunsthalle Wien Vienna, 47. Duisburger Filmwoche, Singapore International Film Festival, Kyiv International Short Film Festival, Filmmuseum Wien Vienna, Temporary Gallery Cologne, Kasseler Dokfest, VISIO – Lo schermo dell´arte Florence, Diagonale - Festival of Austrian Film Graz, Dokumentarfilmwoche Hamburg, Kunsthaus Graz, Lentos Kunstmuseum Linz, Kunstraum Lakeside Klagenfurt, Central Museum of Textiles Łódź, A Tale of A Tub Rotterdam.
Upcoming & Ongoing
11.10.2025 - 3.5.2026
Deconstruction/Reconstruction
@Centralne Muzeum Włókiennictwa w Łodzi, Poland
curated by Marta Kowalewska & Bukola Oyebode-Westerhuis
24.10.2025
Echoes of Ghostly Silence
@Art Lab Gnesta, Sweden
curated by Nathalie Koger
5.11.-7.11.2025
VideoMarathon'25
Center for Contemporary Art Chisinau (KSA:K)
@Cinema Odeon, Chisinau, Moldova
curated by Klio Krajewska & Dominika Kluszczy
20.11.2025, 15:15
Kasseler Dokfest
@Kleines BALi Cinema, Kassel, Germany
29.11.2025, 16:30
Singapore International Film Festival
@Oldham Theatre, Singapore
28.11.2025 - 15.3.2026
Kardinal König Kunstpreis
@St. Virgil Salzburg, Austria