Meet the 2023 jury

For the third round of the residencies we were once again able to assemble a great jury, and we would like to take this opportunity to thank them for their work. In this news post we want to introduce them to you.

Heike Beck co-founded the Kultur- und Kunstverein Kemberg e.V. (Kemberg Culture and Art Association) and has been chairwoman of the association since 2020. She studied History and German Language at the Karl Marx University in Leipzig. Since 1985 she has been working at the primary and secondary school Ernestine Reiske in Kemberg and since 1993 she has been deputy headmistress at this school. In 1994, she was elected to the town council of Kemberg and held various positions there until 2019 (chairwoman of the culture committee, deputy mayor, local mayor). Among other projects one main focus of the association is the establishment of the centre for cultural-historical activities ‘Altes Museum / Knabenschule’ in cooperation with the city of Kemberg and the Saxony-Anhalt State Office for the Preservation of Historical Monuments and Archaeology.

Ann-Christin Bertrand is a curator, author and lecturer in photography, currently holding the position as Head of Programme BA Camera Arts at Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts/ Design & Art. In her work to date, she has combined both the practical-institutional and the scientific-academic experience. During the almost 10 years of her curatorial work at C/O Berlin Foundation, she was able to build up a large, international network of institutions, artists and experts, and has also conceived and introduced several programme formats dealing with the profound changes in photography since digitalisation and questions about the future of the medium. In addition to her curatorial work, she has given and continues to give regular lectures and seminars at numerous universities, such as Aalto University of Arts & Design Helsinki, HDK-Valand Academy of Arts & Design Gothenburg, Design Akademie Berlin, HfbK Hamburg and Folkwang University Essen. Since 2016 she has also been a lecturer in the master’s programme in photography at ECAL, University of Arts and Design Lausanne, Switzerland. Here, she has also been involved in the two research projects “Augmented Photography” and “Automated Photography” which examined the mutability of the digital photographic image as well as the increasing use and influence of automation processes in the production of photographic images. She lives in Lucerne and Berlin.

https://www.ann-christin-bertrand.com

Nela Eggenberger studied Art History at the University of Vienna. Since 2013 she has been Chief Editor of EIKON – International Magazine for Photography and Media Art, a quality international quarterly established in 1991 and published by the Austrian Institute of Photography and Media Art (Österreichisches Institut für Photographie und Medienkunst), which she is directing as well. As the Artistic Director she is responsible for programming also further activities of the institute (among them EIKON Schauraum, Edition EIKON, EIKON publications). Beyond that she realizes exhibitions with a focus on photo-related art and projects with Studio Eggenberger.

https://www.eikon.at
Instagram: n.la.gg.nb.rg.r

Daniel Mebarek is a photographer and writer based in Paris, France. He graduated from Sciences Po Paris, the London School of Economics (LSE) and the Photography Department of the Université de Paris 8 Vincennes – Saint-Denis. Drawing from his academic background in social sciences, his artistic practice examines the relationship between personal and collective memory as well as the function of archives in the writing of history. His work has been exhibited in the United States, France and the United Kingdom. He has been recognised with prizes, grants and residencies from organizations such as PHmuseum, Magnum Photos, Photolucida, the Cité international des arts and the Centre national des arts plastiques (CNAP). His writings have appeared in Magnum Photos, American Suburb X and Objektiv. Daniel Mebarek was ‘Passage’ Artist-in-Residence artist in 2022.

Instagram: daniel.mebarek

Mika Sperling is a photo-based artist currently living and working betwen Hamburg and Frankfurt in Germany. She was born as the youngest of eight children in Norilsk, a mining city in Northern Siberia where her family lived for 20 years. Her family migrated to Germany in her first year of life. She studied photography and book design at the Hochschule Darmstadt and FH Bielefeld and went to the San Francisco Art Institute to pursue her MFA in 2018. Her practice is based in photography and writing and engages questions drawn from her own childhood. Her own voice often accompanies her images. Titles play a keyrole as they can carry additional information about the story. Her work explores her own family history and can challenge relationships and taboos in order to face inner fears and overcome trauma. In her recently published book ‘Mother Tongue’, Mika Sperling examines how origins and culture influence interpersonal relationships based on her personal family history. Mika Sperling is Louis Roederer Discovery Award Public Prize Winner 2022. She was ‘Passage’ Artist-in-Residence artist in 2022.

https://mikasperling.de
Instagram: mika_sperling

Published: 11th February 2023