Prof. Chris Kondek & Prof. Christiane Kühl
Political Collage and Photomontage Workshop
Workshop, English/Deutsch, 2 SWS, 2 ECTS
Thursdays, 16-20 h, 7 sessions: 22.5., 5.6., 12.6., 19.6., 26.6., 3.7. & 10.7.2025, Hardenbergstr. 33, room 102

Registration on Moodle starts on 14.4.2025: https://moodle.udk-berlin.de/moodle/course/view.php?id=2655
Enrollment Key: montage

This block seminar invites participants to explore the art of political collage and photomontage as a powerful means of critique and expression. The fragmented, and subversive nature of Photomontage mirrors the tensions and contradictions of such times, making it a particularly effective medium for complicated times. Each day of the workshop begins with a focused discussion on a pressing political theme, supported by short readings in political analysis to deepen understanding. The afternoons are devoted to practical experimentation. Participants will take scissors in hand and working in small groups create their own photomontages, applying the political concepts explored earlier. The course will also feature guided sessions on the works of pioneering artists such as Hannah Höch, John Heartfield, Martha Rosler, Linder Sterling, and others, offering inspiration and context for participants’ creations. By the end of the workshop, attendees will have developed both a theoretical foundation and practical skills to think through current political topics compelling via compelling visual statements.

Fulfilment criteria for ungraded accreditation: active and regular participation, individual collage project within the seminar framework.

Chris Kondek, born in Boston in 1962, started as a video designer for theater in 1990 working with the New York Theater company The Wooster Group. In 1995 he began a multi-year collaboration with performance artist Laurie Anderson; in the late 90's he made video for productions by Robert Wilson, The Builder's Association and Michael Nyman. After moving to Berlin in 1999 Kondek established himself in the German Theater world, working with directors Stefan Pucher, Falk Richter, Jossi Wieler, Armin Petras among many others, as well as with choreographer Meg Stuart. In 2007 Kondek created video for the first of many opera productions with Sebastian Baumgarten. With director Lydia Styer he worked on Stockhausen's “Donnerstag aus Licht”, which was named production of the year 2016 by Opernwelt magazine. For his video work in theater Kondek received the OPUS/Deutscher Bühne Prize in 2008 and the Faust Theater Prize in 2012. Since fall 2023, he and Prof. Christiane Kühl share the Professorship for Interdisciplinary Artistic Practice and Theory at Studium Generale at UdK Berlin.

Christiane Kühl is a theater maker, author, editor, and curator of interdisciplinary symposia between art and theory. Since winter term 2023/24 Kühl is Guest Professor for Interdisciplinary Artistic Practice and Theory in Studium Generale at the University of the Arts Berlin. After studying Modern German Literature, Philosophy, and Spanish at the University of Hamburg, she worked as an arts editor for the newspaper taz, SPIEGEL magazine, and radio station radioeins/RBB. She has  freelanced for various media outlets, including Die Zeit, F.A.S., dummy, and Du (Switzerland). From 2006 to 2015, she collaborated with the steirischer herbst festival (Austria), and from 2011 to 2013, she served as deputy to the artistic director of the Berliner Festspiele. She is a co-founder of the performance group doublelucky productions, which has been creating theater pieces, lecture-performances, and video installations since 2005, in co-production with HAU Berlin, Residenz Schauspiel Leipzig, Münchner Kammerspiele, among others. Their work has been critically acclaimed and tours internationally (www.doubleluckyproductions.org). Since 2018, she has been part of the team for "Weiter Schreiben. A Platform for Literature from War and Zones of Crisis," which has been awarded the Power of the Arts Prize in 2018, the PEN Centre Germany's Encouragement Award in 2022, and the BDI Cultural Promotion Prize in 2023. More information on www.christianekuehl.de.