Biography
In 1968, when Russian tanks invaded Czechoslovakia, a young student in London suddenly became a "refugee." Later, he became an "immigrant" as he made his way to Canada. Over the years, the photographer made Toronto his home and focused on capturing the world through his lens.
Renowned for his observational approach, Yuri Dojc combines subjectivity, empathy, and intimacy to document Slovakia's last living Holocaust survivors and the country's abandoned synagogues and cemeteries for the series Last Folio. The series has seen great success, with exhibitions in various cities around the world. A documentary featuring Yuri as the main protagonist premiered in 2016 in Bratislava, Slovakia and is now being screened worldwide.
In his most recent series, "North is Freedom: The Legacy of the Underground Railroad," the photographer illustrates the power of art to tell stories that resonate with us in the present and into the future. Yuri's award-winning photographs have appeared in numerous magazines, compilations, and solo books, and are part of the permanent collections of institutions like the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., and the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa.
In 2023, Slovak President Zuzana Caputova honored Yuri with the High Country Order for his remarkable contribution to the arts.
REPRESENTED BY GALERIE KARSTEN GREVE + DAN GALERIA
SELECTED AWARDS + GRANTS
Order of Slovakia by Slovak president Zuzana Caputova 2023
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
2022
Museu Coleção Berardo, Lisbon, Portugal
2020
Niagara Falls History Museum, Niagara Falls, ON, Canada.
2019
Panama Canal Museum (Museo del Canal), Panama City, Panama
Peel Art Gallery Museum + Archives, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Ottawa City Hall, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
Memoriale de la Shoah, Milano, Italy.
2018
Memoriale della Shoah di Milano, Milano, Italy
Palazzo Sant’Elia, Palermo, Italy.
Austrian Cultural Forum, Bratislava, Slovakia.
Synagoga Lucenec, Lucenec, Slovakia.
Galerie Karsten Greve, Cologne, Germany.
Anna Leonowens Gallery, NSCAD University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
2017
Galerie Karsten Greve, Paris, France.
Georgian National Museum, Tbilisi, Georgia.
National Museum of Brazil, Brasilia, Brazil.
Geothe-Universitat, Frankfurt, Germany.
Grey Roots Museum & Archives, Owen Sound, ON, Canada.
United States Embassy, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
Darren Gallery, Toronto, ON, Canada.
2016
Art Gallery of Hamilton, Hamilton, ON, Canada.
Van Leer Institute, Jerusalem, Israel.
Unibes Cultural, Sao Paolo, Brazil.
Woodrow Wilson Center, Washington D.C., USA.
Canadian Embassy, Washington D.C., USA.
2015
Museum of Tolerance, Moscow, Russia.
Tufts University Art Gallery, Boston, MA, USA.
United Nations, New York, NY, USA.
Mark Rothko Art Center, Daugavpils, Latvia.
Library of Germany, Berlin, Germany.
Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, ON, Canada.
2014
Ermanno Tedeschi Gallery, Via del Porticio d’Ottavia, Rome, Italy.
Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
2013
Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Roma, Rome, Italy.
Gallery of Jozef Kollár, Banska Stiavnica, Slovakia.
European Capital of Culture, Košice, Slovakia.
2011
Grunwald Gallery of Art: Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA.
Pierre Berge Foundation, Brussels, Belgium.
European Commission, Brussels, Belgium.
Museum of Jewish Heritage, New York, NY, USA.
2010
Mirbach Palace Gallery, Bratislava, Slovakia.
2009
Gonville & Caius College: Cambridge University, Cambridge, UK.
2008
Slovak National Museum, Bratislava, Slovakia.
Vychodoslovenske Museum, Košice, Slovakia.
Slovak Cultural Center, Prague, Czech Republic.
2001
Slovak Embassy, Washington D.C., USA.