Exhibition: Stefanie Moshammer – Grandmother said it’s okay

Stefanie Moshammer – Grandmother said it’s okay. Photo: Forgotten Gold Teeth, 2018. Exhibition by Foto Forum, Bolzano/Bozen (Italy), 2025

In her exhibition Grandmother said it’s okay, Stefanie Moshammer presents a deeply personal yet multifaceted engagement with family memory cultures and the value of everyday objects at the Foto Forum gallery in Bolzano. The work is rooted in photographs, found objects, and stories from the lives of her grandparents in the Mühlviertel region of Upper Austria—a life marked by simplicity, creativity, and a respectful use of resources. Years later, she reconstructs these memories through her camera, weaving together visual metaphors that reflect aging, daily rituals, and the transience of life.

Moshammer combines a documentary approach with staged photography, assembling everyday objects in new and surprising ways. Drawing from her own experiences and memories, she embarks on a visual search for traces, where color and anatomical resemblances serve as narrative glue. Her visual language is both sensitive and pointed; she plays with expectations, subverts clichés, and creates space for nuance. With this blend of whimsical humor and intimate observation, she evokes a special closeness to her grandparents, their home, and their stories—while also raising questions about how material culture changes and what endures over time.

Stefanie Moshammer – Grandmother said it’s okay. Photo: Bed Linen and Dirndl Cap, 2018. Exhibition by Foto Forum, Bolzano/Bozen (Italy), 2025

The title Grandmother said it’s okay becomes a poetic and powerful form of empowerment. It allows the artist to engage with the past, to question it, and to reinterpret it in dialogue with two people who form the foundation of her own story. In this way, remembering itself becomes an artistic act. Within the context of Foto Forum Bolzano—which positions itself as a platform for experimental and socially relevant photography—Grandmother said it’s okay becomes an invitation to reflect on value and change, on visibility and care, on the sustainable handling of resources, and on the beauty found in the everyday.

Stefanie Moshammer (b. 1988, Vienna) studied graphic design and photography at the University of Art and Design in Linz. She completed a BA in Advanced Visual Storytelling at the Danish School of Media and Journalism. Her projects have taken her to the USA, Brazil, and repeatedly back into her own family history. She has received numerous awards and honors, and her work has been published in various international print and online publications. Her works have been exhibited in galleries and museums across Europe, the USA, and Asia, including: Fotografiska New York, Gyeonggi Museum of Modern Art South Korea, Foam Photography Museum Amsterdam, Kunst Haus Wien, Belvedere21 Vienna, C/O Berlin, Webber Gallery London, and the MAK – Museum of Applied Arts Vienna.

         Sabine Gamper

Stefanie Moshammer – Grandmother said it’s okay. Photo: Taking a bath with Jesus, 2017. Exhibition by Foto Forum, Bolzano/Bozen (Italy), 2025