Daya Cahen (NL/USA, born in Amsterdam) studied photography at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam. She works primarily in the fields of photography and video.
In her work she focuses on forms of political influence and the systematic
manipulation of the human being. Her main interest lies in the power of mass media and its use in the construction and presentation of propaganda, indoctrination or manipulation.
Having two parents who survived WOII as jewish children, the artist grew up with the notion that the world can change on you in a day and you never know at which end of the line you will end up. A society can turn against any group of people. Investigating how these developments of indoctrination, radicalization and fear of otherness can arise within society form the starting point for all of Cahen’s work.
Her works have been exhibited among others at the Moscow Museum of Modern Art, Dutch Photomuseum, MK Galerie Berlin, National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Dumbo Arts Center NY and Kunstmuseum Bonn. She participated in various international film festivals and screenings including De Appel arts centre (Amsterdam), Wiels (Brussels), Rencontres Internationales Paris/Berlin/Madrid at Haus der Kulturen der Welt (Berlin), Centre Pompidou and Palais de Tokyo (Paris), Platform Garanti (Istanbul), Hermitage Amsterdam, Short Film Festival Oberhausen, IDFA and International Film Festival Rotterdam.
She was nominated for a Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival for the short film The Stalin that was played by me, longlisted for the Prix Pictet Photography Award and in the Gouden Kalf Competition of the Netherlands Film Festival.