msdm a nomadic house-studio-gallery for photographic art and curatorial research, an expanded practice of the artist's book, photobook publishing and peer-to-peer collaboration created by contemporary artist paula roush
paula-by-mide-praia-da-tocha

paula roush by mide placido, praia da tocha, portugal, september 2025

about paula roush and msdm

paula roush lives and works between lisbon and london. she is an artist, researcher and founder of mobile strategies of display & mediation (msdm), a nomadic editorial studio and house-gallery developed in london and currently based in lisbon. her research-based practice unfolds through installation, publication and participatory processes, exploring intersections between photography, archives and ecology.

 recent projects include one green eye, the other blue: herbarium of the anthropocene (mira galleries, porto, 2025), a speculative herbarium rooted in the ruins of campanhã and its more-than-human ecosystems; paula & work: a document on the machinic enslavement in academic capitalism (borough road gallery, london, 2024), an investigation into algorithmic regimes of value and academic identity; and creia — creative attentive studio for mindful art practice (with inês amado), a relational art practice bridging pedagogy and mindfulness.

alongside her artistic practice, she is a research associate at the centre for the study of the networked image (csni) at london south bank university. she develops pedagogical activities through workshops, talks, and collaborations with artist-led spaces as well as with art and educational institutions. this academic and peer-to-peer connection nourishes the dialogue between theoretical research and editorial practice — something paula also brings into the contexts of exhibitions, collaborations, and co-creative processes.

 
recent projects include:

– one green eye, the other blue: herbarium of the anthropocene — mira galleries, porto (2025)
an editorial and installative investigation into industrial ruins, spontaneous plants, and architecture.

– wide load [bred last]: a house moved — copenhagen architecture biennial (cafx), september–november 2025
a photographic and architectural reflection on the relocation of a historic house; a study of spatial politics of deconstruction and vernacular mobility, also presented at umeå school of architecture and umeå art museum.

– book of water / tidal lea — thames festival, london (2024)
a performative and participatory book created with artists and river communities along the lea, exploring publishing as relational ecology.

– water in the library — msdm house–studio–gallery, london (2024); publication forthcoming in 2026
a fluid guide to editorial practices linked to the ecology of reading and the circulation of water.

– follow y/our river lea–minal edges: prompts for transitory states of being  — borough road gallery (2024)
a poetic-cartographic investigation of the river lea valley as a ritual and ecological landscape, developed in collaboration with local artists.

– the expanded practice of the artist’s book — isabel bader centre for the performing arts, queen’s university, kingston (2022)
a photographic and theoretical essay presented at the symposium virtual museums: an inquiry into virtual art / institutions & communities, exploring the artist’s book as expanded practice and the msdm house–studio–gallery as both “artist’s museum” and site for autoethnographic and museographic experimentation.

her editorial work includes follow y/our river: lea-minal edges | prompts for transitory states of being (co-edited with tamara stoll and hḗrā santos, 2024), wide load | a house moved (co-edited with tonia carless, 2023), and water prints (2022). she is also the founder of the found photo foundation, a platform for engaging vernacular photographic archives through speculative fabulation.

her writing appears in library of artistic print on demand: post-digital publishing in times of platform capitalism (annette gilbert & andreas bülhoff, eds.,spector books, 2025) and re-evaluation in feminism and contemporary art (katy deepwell, ed.,vernon press, 2025).

 sobre paula roush e msdm

paula roush vive e trabalha entre lisboa e londres. artista, investigadora e fundadora de msdm (mobile strategies of display & mediation), um estúdio editorial nómada e casa-galeria desenvolvido em londres e atualmente sediado em lisboa. a sua prática de investigação artística desdobra-se através de instalação, publicação e processos participativos, explorando interseções entre fotografia, arquivo e ecologia.

entre os seus projectos recentes destacam-se um olho verde, o outro azul: herbário do antropoceno (mira galerias, porto, 2025), um herbário especulativo enraizado nas ruínas de campanhã e nos seus ecossistemas mais-que-humanos; paula & work: a document on the machinic enslavement in academic capitalism (borough road gallery, londres, 2024), uma investigação sobre regimes algorítmicos de valor e identidade académica; e creia — creative attentive studio for mindful art practice (com inês amado), uma prática relacional que articula pedagogia e consciencia.

paralelamente à prática artística, é investigadora associada ao centre for the study of the networked image (csni) da london south bank university. desenvolve atividades pedagógicas através de workshops, palestras e colaborações com artist-led spaces, assim como com instituições de ensino e arte. esta ligação académica e peer to peer tem alimentado o diálogo entre investigação teórica e prática editorial — algo que paula procura trazer também para o contexto das exposições, colaborações e processos de co-criação.


entre os seus projectos recentes:

– um olho verde outro azul: herbário do antropoceno — mira galerias, porto (2025)
investigação editorial e instalativa sobre ruínas industriais, plantas espontâneas e arquitetura.

– wide load [bred last]: a house move — copenhagen architecture biennial (cafx), setembro–novembro 2025
arquivo fotográfico e reflexão arquitectónica sobre a deslocação de uma casa histórica; estudo sobre políticas espaciais de des-construção e mobilidade vernacular, apresentado também na umeå school of architecture e no umeå art museum.

– book of water / tidal lea — thames festival, londres (2024)
livro performativo e participativo criado com artistas e comunidades junto ao rio lea, explorando modos de publicação como ecologia relacional.

– water in the library — msdm house–studio–gallery, londres (2024); publicação prevista para 2026
guia fluido de práticas editoriais ligadas à ecologia da leitura e à circulação da água.

– follow y/our river lea–minal edges: prompts for transitory states of being — borough road gallery (2024)
investigação poético-cartográfica sobre o vale do rio lea como paisagem ritual e ecológica, desenvolvida em colaboração com artistas locais.

– the expanded practice of the artist’s book — isabel bader centre for the performing arts, queen’s university, kingston (2022)
ensaio fotográfico e teórico apresentado no simpósio virtual museums: an inquiry into virtual art / institutions & communities. explora a noção do livro de artista como prática expandida, situando o espaço da msdm house–studio–gallery como um “museu de artista” e laboratório de metodologias autoetnográficas e museográficas.

a sua produção editorial inclui follow y/our river: lea-minal edges | prompts for transitory states of being (co-edição com tamara stoll e hḗrā santos, 2024), wide load | a house moved (co-edição com tonia carless, 2023) e water prints (2022). é também fundadora da found photo foundation, plataforma dedicada ao re-uso de arquivos fotográficos vernaculares através de fabulação especulativa.

os seus textos integram os volumes library of artistic print on demand: post-digital publishing in times of platform capitalism (annette gilbert & andreas bülhoff, eds.,spector books, 2025) e re-evaluation in feminism and contemporary art (katy deepwell, ed. vernon press, 2025).

 

 CV link

DISTRIBUTION

msdm photoworks and publications can be purchased online, in selected bookstores, artist-led spaces and galleries. If you would like to purchase msdm publications and photoworks from us please get in touch.

shop.msdm.org.uk

Konst/ig (Stockholm+Malmö)

PLA_ARTE Creative Room

Bookshop.org

Blue Cypress Books

STET 

Parallax Photographic Coop

Materia Prima 

Art Metropole 

Hippolyte Bookshop  

Photographers Gallery Bookshop  

 

msdm X COLLABS

PUBLIC ART GALLERIES & MUSEUMS
.Finnish Museum of Photography
.South London Gallery
.[ Space ] London
.Castlefield Gallery Manchester
.198 Contemporary Arts & Learning London
.Tate Modern + Tate Britain London
.Centro Cultural de Lagos
.Drawing Room London
.Centro Cultural de Espana Montevideo
.CAMJAP: Fundação Calouste
 Gulbenkian Lisbon
.Southhill Park Arts Centre London
.WUK Kunsthalle Exnergasse Austria
.Kunstverein Harburger Bahnhof Hamburg
.Artstation Auckland
.QUAD Derby
.MNAC Museu Nacional de Arte Contemporânea Chiado
.Museum für Gegenwartskunst Siegen
.Museu Coleção Berardo Lisbon
.Herbert Read Gallery Canterbury
.Pavilhão 28 Espaço Expositivo Centro
Hospitalar Psiquiátrico Lisboa
.GAK Gesellschaft für Aktuelle Kunst Bremen
.City Gallery Prague
.Living Art Museum Reykjavik
.INIVA Institute of International Visual Arts 
.The Brady Arts Centre London
.The Photographers' Gallery London
.Camden Arts Centre London
.Casa das Artes Porto 
.Haus der Architektur Graz 
.Czech Centre London
.Pavilhao Preto Museu da Cidade Lisbon
.ACERT Tondela
.Fondazione de Monte Uniti di Foggia

INDEPENDENT ART SPACES 
.Association of Photographic Artists/
 Hippolyte gallery Helsinki
.Gallery P74 Ljubljana
.Coleman Project Space London
.CMR Cornwall Media Resource 
.ICVL Studio Bristol
.ProjectoMap
.Atelier POP-UP Lisbon
.Infinite Multiple London
.Play Gallery Berlin
.Voyeur Project View Lisbon
.a l l i n London 
.Sparwasser HQ Berlin
.Galeria Mira Porto
.Artist's Book Centre Sheffield
.Sput&Nik the Window Porto
.Overgaden Gallery Copenhagen
.W139 Amsterdam
.mzin-bookstore and project space
 for visual culture Leipzig
.Frans Masereel Centrum Kasterlee
.Homeless Project London

ART PHOTOGRAPHY FOUNDATIONS 
.Bauhaus Foundation Dessau
.Hasselblad Foundation Gothenburg
.Arab Image Foundation Beirut
.EDP Foundation Lisbon

ART SCHOOLS AND ACADEMIES
.London South Bank University
-ACI School of Arts and Creative Industries
-CSNI Center for the Study of Networked Image
-BA (Hons) Photography
-BA (Hons) Fashion Media
.UMEA University Sweden 
- School of Architecture
.Universidade do Porto
-Faculdade de Belas Artes
.UWE University of the West of England
- Architecture and Built Environment
.KHiO National Academy of the Arts Oslo
.Atelier de Lisboa
.ESDA LLotja Barcelona
.EINA  Centre Universitari
de Disseny i Art UAB
.Autonomous University of Barcelona
.Lebanese American University
- School of  Architecture & Design
.University of Gothenburg HDK
- Valand Academy
.University of the Arts in Poznan
.UMAR/Feminist University Lisbon
.Lisbon Consortium
.Napier University Edinburgh
.Danish Royal School of Library and Information Science Copenhagen
.University for the Creative Arts Canterbury
.Willem de Kooning Academy Rotterdam
-Piet Zwart Institute/
Education in Arts Post-grad
.University of the Arts London
- Wimbledon College of Art
- Central Saint Martins BA Fine Art
- Camberwell College of Arts 
.University of Middlesex London
.Ar.Co School of Arts &
 Visual Communication Lisbon
.Centro Portugues de Design Lisbon 
- Environmental Urban Design Post Grad
.Oxford Brookes University
-School of Architecture
.University of London Goldsmiths College 
- MA in Fine Art Administration and Curatorship
.St Charles College London

 ART:PHOTOGRAPHY: PHOTOBOOK FESTIVALS
.The Finish Photobook Award
.Festival Internacional de Fotografia de Avintes
 -iNstantes (PT) 
.Imago Photo Festival Lisbon
.PhotoBookClub Lisbon
.Aarhus Photobook Week
.Feira do Livro de Fotografia de Lisboa
(Lisbon Photobook Fair) 
.Unveil'd Photography Festival Exeter
.node.london,
.Radiator Festival London
.ISEA International Symposium on Electronic Art 
.Institut für Neue Kulturtechnologien/t0
.World-Information City: Public Outreach Program
.Sheffield Artist's Book Fair
.Hackney WickED
.FotoBook Festival Kassel
.Publish and Be Damned
.Joburg Fringe Independent Art Fair
.e v +a limerick
.AC Institute NYC
.London Art Book Fair
.Blind Date Convention
.Ragusa FotoFestival

COMMISSIONING BODIES
.HS Projects London
.ACAVA Association for Cultural
.Advancement through Visual Arts London
.CoolTan Arts London
.ICAP: Insight Community Arts Programme
.ADXTUR
.UBM
.Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea
-Public Health
.South London and Maudsley NHS Trust
.Science Museum’s LATES 
.TAP Trust Art Project London
.ArtsAdmin London
.Procurarte  Lisbon

FUNDING BODIES
.Instituto de Camoes
.Arts Council England
.Elephant Trust
.Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation
.South East London Foundation
.Neighbourhood Renewal Fund
.Erasmus