Sulima Marina

About

Marina Sulima, a visual artist and director born in 1996 in the Republic of Moldova, has distinguished herself through interdisciplinary works that combine illustration, animation, sculpture, and film, exploring the trajectories of everyday objects such as a parcel, a tomato, or copper sulfate crystals. A summa cum laude graduate of Minerva Academy in Groningen in 2020, where she received the Minerva Prize for Design for her short film *Parcelpaedia* – an absurd reflection on "Italy syndrome," a form of depression specific to Eastern European women emigrating to Italy – she addresses themes such as globalization, the damaged economy, and the harm done to the planet. Works like the essay film *Consider a Tomato* (2024), supported by the Netherlands Film Fund, follow tomatoes from Dutch greenhouses to Moldova, linking the migration of Moldovan workers to industrial agricultural practices. His career includes exhibitions and residencies in the Netherlands, Moldova, and Romania, collaborating with institutions such as Noorderlicht Gallery, Oerol Festival, TranzitRo in Bucharest and Chisinau, Extrapool, Matca Artspace, and PubHub. In 2024, he received the "Kunstenaar Start" grant from the Mondriaan Fonds, developing the project *Of Climbing Vines and Copper Crystals*, which investigates the paradoxes of Moldovan viticulture and the impact of copper sulfate crystals on the soil, integrating rituals such as Paștele Blajinilor. Her films and installations, such as *Ține cont de-o pătlăgică* (2024) or *In the Courtroom with Rocks* (2022), have been selected for international festivals such as One World Romania, MOLDOX, Serbest International Film Festival in Chisinau, and the International Migration & Environmental Film Festival in Toronto, focusing on ecology, migration, and speculative anthropology. Raised in Moldova in a family of emigrants, Marina Sulima lives and works in Groningen, Netherlands, transforming personal experiences – such as those related to parcels sent home by Moldovan women – into narratives that question social and ecological cohesion. Her works create absurd worlds with their own logic, where non-human objects become main actors, fermenting stories about a "slightly mad" planet. Although intimate family details remain private, recurring themes reflect the post-Soviet legacy and the impact of emigration on Moldovan communities, inspiring open conversations about collective trauma and a sustainable future.