Latest information
Winter Term 2024/2025
Welcoming Helene Romakin to the Program
With the current semester, Dr. Helene Romakin takes over from Dr. Anna-Lena Werner as a post-doctoral research associate at the Department of Cultural and Media Management.
Helene Romakin is a cultural scholar, curator, and author with a focus on artistic research practices, situated knowledge, and the role of fiction in academic writing. She completed her PhD at ETH Zurich in the Department of Art and Architectural History under the guidance of Prof. Dr. Philip Ursprung and Prof. Dr. Karen van den Berg (Zeppelin University). Her doctoral thesis explored visual culture in contemporary art and architecture in the Anthropocene era. At the Department of Architecture at ETH Zurich, she co-developed and taught several seminars. This semester, Dr. Helene Romakin is teaching the main seminar Artistic Research in the Anthropocene as part of the Visual Culture and Performative Arts I module.
We warmly welcome you, Helene, and look forward to the many experiences we will share together!
A New Chapter for Anna-Lena Werner
We extend our heartfelt thanks to Dr. Anna-Lena Werner and wish you all the best on your new path.
After five years at the Department of Cultural and Media Management, your time with us has come to an end. You have been with the Master’s program from the very beginning, playing a significant role in shaping it. Projects like AdA – Invitation and workshops such as The Quality of Slowness in Expanded Neural Networks bear your distinct imprint. As a lecturer, you were an inspiration to the students, always approachable, and a trusted anchor. Your expertise, dedication, and above all, your positive nature have been an enormous asset to our team and the institute. For that, we are profoundly grateful!
We wish you much success and joy in all your future projects! Stay the radiant, inspiring person you are! You will always have a place in our hearts, and we look forward to hearing about your new adventures and staying in touch.
Visiting Professorship at Université Paris 1, Panthéon-Sorbonne
Starting in the summer semester of 2025, Univ.-Prof. Dr. AJL will be a Visiting Professor at Université Paris 1, Panthéon-Sorbonne, Ecole des arts de la Sorbonne.
Exhibition at Berlin Art Week
During this year’s Berlin Art Week, metaLAB (at) Berlin presented Up-Dates on Weather, an ongoing collaborative project between ClimArt at ZK/U, the Department of Cultural and Media Management, and metaLAB.
Up-Dates on Weather transforms real-time data from local environmental sensors at ZK/U into sensory and visual experiences, including personalized weather data tattoos. The installation offers a fresh perception of everyday weather by inviting visitors to compare their impressions with the live data collected on-site. Data visualizations, 3D scans, and heat maps blur the boundaries between past and future weather, while a temporary tattoo highlights the subtle differences between human perception and sensor measurements. The project underscores the collective yet individual nature of weather and the delicate balance between precision and interpretation.
More information about the project can be found here.
This exhibition was part of Commons Cosmodrome - Re-entering the spaces of ZK/U. Commons Cosmodrome marked the reopening of ZK/U Berlin and took place from September 12–15, 2024. ZK/U partnered with Berlin Art Week for Commons Cosmodrome.
Free University Meets Harvard
On February 18, 2024, the Tagesspiegel reported on our collaboration with metaLAB (at) Harvard & FU Berlin in its supplement. The article discusses the origins of our partnership and the projects that have since been realized, such as B4 Tomorrow.
The full article by Anne Kostrzewa can be read here.
2023
Dear first-year students, dear students in higher semesters,
On behalf of all members of our program, we warmly welcome you to the new semester!
This winter semester, we are once again joined by many lecturers and guests from art, culture, and science, with whom we aim to experiment with and initiate new forms and opportunities for dialogue and exchange.
Prof. Dr. Annette Jael Lehmann is on a research sabbatical this semester. The main and project seminar will be supervised this semester by guest professor Dr. Azadeh Sharifi.
2022
Dear second-year students, dear students in higher semesters,
On behalf of all members of our program, we warmly welcome you to the new semester!
This winter semester, we are conducting classes both in-person and online under the given circumstances, as planned, with many lecturers and guests from art, culture, and science, with whom we aim to experiment with and initiate new forms and opportunities for dialogue and exchange. Our practice program, which is planned to be in person, is extensive and varied and will be available to you in various media formats via the relevant platforms.
You will continue your studies in the new semester under exceptional conditions and with special challenges, utilizing the various digital tools available to us in teaching and communication. It is particularly important that you continue to make intensive use of digital technologies to stay in contact with each other – whether within seminars or courses, working and reading groups, or simply to create opportunities for conversation and exchange with other students.
Given this context, this winter semester also offers unique opportunities to jointly explore new and unconventional ways of studying!
2021
Dear second-year students, dear students in higher semesters,
On behalf of all members of our program, we warmly welcome you to the new semester!
Unfortunately, we are once again holding this summer semester as an online semester, as planned, with many lecturers and guests from art, culture, and science, with whom we aim to experiment with and initiate new forms and opportunities for dialogue and exchange. Our online program is extensive and varied and will be available to you in various media formats via the relevant platforms.
You will continue your studies in the new semester under exceptional conditions and with special challenges, utilizing the various digital tools available to us in teaching and communication. It is particularly important that you continue to make intensive use of digital technologies to stay in contact with each other – whether within seminars or courses, working and reading groups, or simply to create opportunities for conversation and exchange with other students.
Given this context, this summer semester also offers special opportunities to jointly explore new and unconventional ways of studying!
2020
Dear first-year students, dear students in higher semesters,
On behalf of all members of our program, we warmly welcome you to the new semester!
What was initially planned as a partially in-person lecture period for this winter semester has now become another online semester, as planned, with many lecturers and guests from art, culture, and science, with whom we aim to experiment with and initiate new forms and opportunities for dialogue and exchange. Our online program is extensive and varied and will be available to you in various media formats via the relevant platforms.
You are beginning your studies or the new semester under exceptional conditions and with special challenges in a largely digital semester, which we will utilize for teaching and communication among ourselves. It is particularly important that you use digital technologies to stay in contact with each other, to form working and reading groups or simply to create conversation and exchange opportunities with other students within seminars or courses.
Given this context, this winter semester also offers particularly exciting opportunities to explore new and unconventional ways of studying together!
2019
Mentoring
Prof. Dr. Annette Jael Lehmann was a mentor in the fourth mentoring program „Gemeinsam ist mehrWert“ of the VBKI (Association of Berlin Merchants and Industrialists) in 2019/20. The mentoring program offers the opportunity to meet with young professionals and executives from various companies and industries, gain new perspectives, and discuss current topics in the world of work. The kick-off event took place on October 21, 2019, at 6:30 PM at VBKI, Fasanenstr. 85, Berlin 10623.
Events
„Wo Kunst geschehen kann. Die frühen Jahre des CalArts“
Kestner Gesellschaft Hannover, August 30 to November 10, 2019
As part of a joint research project between the Institute of Theater Studies at Freie Universität Berlin, Kestner Gesellschaft, and metaLAB (at) Harvard, an exhibition about the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts), an American art school, was opened in Hannover. Around 100 works by 40 artists are shown, including works that are being publicly presented for the first time.
The exhibition is part of the research project "Tacit Knowledge. Post Studio/Feminism – CalArts (1970–77)," led by Prof. Dr. Annette Jael Lehmann from the Institute of Theater Studies at Freie Universität Berlin. The exhibition was curated by Christina Végh, director of Kestner Gesellschaft, Hannover, and Los Angeles-based curator Dr. Philipp Kaiser. It is being realized in cooperation with Kunsthaus Graz, where it will be displayed from March 13 to June 7, 2020. The book "Tacit Knowledge. Post Studio/Feminism – CalArts (1970–77)" accompanies the exhibition. It was conceived and edited by Annette Jael Lehmann in collaboration with students and research assistant Verena Kittel from the Institute of Theater Studies.
The exhibition titled „Wo Kunst geschehen kann – Die frühen Jahre des CalArts“ presents the founding years (1970–1980) of the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts), which has produced many renowned artists. It offers a multi-perspective view of the school and showcases parallel movements from the realms of conceptual art, feminist art, and Fluxus, as well as the radical pedagogical concepts of CalArts. Key figures such as Allan Kaprow, John Baldessari, Judy Chicago, and Miriam Schapiro are highlighted. Additional artists in the exhibition include: Michael Asher, David Askevold, Ericka Beckman, Ross Bleckner, Barbara Bloom, Troy Brauntuch, Sheila Levrant de Bretteville, Klaus vom Bruch, Dorit Cypis, Eric Fischl, Simone Forti, Jack Goldstein, Douglas Huebler, Stephan von Huene, Mike Kelley, Alison Knowles, Suzanne Lacy, Matt Mullican, Daniel Joseph Martinez, John Miller, Susan Mogul, Ann Noël, Tony Oursler, Charlemagne Palestine, Stephen Prina, Anthony Ramos, Ulrike Rosenbach, David Salle, Mira Schor, Jim Shaw, Wolfgang Stoerchle, Mitchell Syrop, Carrie Mae Weems, James Welling, Faith Wilding, Christopher Williams, and Emmett Williams.
The exhibition and research project are funded by the Kulturstiftung des Bundes, the VolkswagenStiftung, and the Stiftung Niedersachsen.
Time and Place
- August 30 to November 10, 2019
- Kestner Gesellschaft Hannover, Goseriede 11, 30159 Hannover
Book: http://spectorbooks.com/de/tacit-knowledge
Homepage: Kestner Gesellschaft https://kestnergesellschaft.de/