Maria Barnas (born 1973) is a poet, writer and visual artist. In her written and visual work, she explores how descriptions and images shape and distort reality.
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Photo by: Blommers Schumm
Maria Barnas
- Author
- Visual artist
- Poet
Barnast asks such questions as: To what extent is perception determined by knowledge and language? Can the difference between an object and how that object is perceived be made visible?
Barnas is also an adviser at the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam. She conducts cultural research at the intersection of science and art, for example by investigating the possibilities of the visual essay. In her most recent work, language plays a crucial role in the development of objects. Does language also consist of images? Barnas attempts to shape the unspeakable and has developed objects for alternative communication.
Two novels
Barnas has published two novels. Her poetry debut Twee zonnen (2003) was awarded the C. Buddingh Prize. For Binnenzee (2005), she received a second, shared Elisabeth van Thüringen Prize in 2015. She was awarded the J.C. Bloem poetry prize in 2009 for Er staat een stad (2007) and her collection Jaja de oerknal (2013) was awarded the 2014 Anna Bijns Prize.
Barnas has published essays in De Gids, De Groene Amsterdammer and de Volkskrant. Her publication Fantastisch (2010) is a collection of columns that she wrote for the NRC Handelsblad Cultureel Supplement between 2007 and 2010.