Grandmother Said It’s Okay by Stefanie Moshammer at Foto Forum

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.

Overview

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.

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.