Enchanted Journeys of Desire: Nika Belianina | Contact Photo Festival | Project Room Exhibition

Nika Belianina’s poetic photographs capture not just the outer appearances of things, but their inner emotional significance. Her work represents a timeless and dynamic connection of people (and creatures) with their surroundings, where both become the characters of their stories.

Nika Belianina is an award-winning Russian Canadian filmmaker and a fine art photographer with a flair for magical realism. Nika participated in 30+ curated photo exhibitions and art fairs in Belgium, Peru, Canada and the USA. Among them are the Contact Festival, Abbozzo Gallery, Toronto Outdoor Art Fair and Cultural Center of Fine Arts in Lima. Her works received Re-Focus Audience Choice Award (2023), Best of Photography at the Overzealous Exhibition (2021) and numerous honorable mentions and finalist places at international photography competitions. She is a recipient of artist residencies in the USA, Mexico and Peru. Nika served as a visual arts juror for the Brush Creek Foundation for the Arts (Wyoming) for two seasons. In 2023 she opened her own fine art photography studio called Curious Captures, in Toronto’s East End. As a filmmaker, Belianina has screened her films at over 80 film festivals worldwide (such as Tribeca, Fantasporto and Sheffield). Her latest directorial works can be found on CBC Gem, CTV and Discovery+. Nika has an MA in Social Psychology.