Global Challenges + Sustainable Developments: People

A communication, media, and art theorist with a special focus on the crossover of media aesthetics, digital technologies, cybernetics of art, and with a long lasting passion for cross-disciplinary thinking and acting, Katharina Gsöllpointner has built up International Programmes in Sustainable Developments and functioned as head of department until her retirement from Angewandte in 2024. 

Mitra Kazerani is an information designer with longstanding experience in exhibition and graphic design. As part of her professional experience, she has worked for various production teams for independent theater companies in Vienna and Berlin. 

Since 2010, she has worked at the University of Applied Arts Vienna, first in the Department of Graphic Design and the Institute of Design and, since autumn 2019, in the Department of International Programmes in Sustainable Developments.

She has been the study coordinator of the Transformation Studies. Art x Science bachelor's program since October 2023.

Ulrike Payerhofer studied art history and cultural management with a focus on participatory practices in Vienna. She has been heading a contemporary art gallery as curator for several years and joined the University of Applied Arts as Senior Artist in 2019 for the project UniNEtZ (Universities and Sustainable Development Goals). The focus of her curatorial practice and research is on multidisciplinary collaborations and artistic strategies at the intersection of arts, science and society. 

In 2022 Ulrike initiated together with Max Muhr the platform “Projektwerkstatt – creating collaborations for sustainability”. The platform works across institutions and initiates and designs and conducts transdisciplinary collaborations and projects on sustainability. Ulrike heads the Projektwerkstatt from a curatorial perspective. For IPSD she works as a Senior Artist with focus on bringing together teaching of artistic practices, issues of sustainability, and cross-disciplinary research.

Nanna Heidenreich took over the newly established professorship Transcultural Studies in fall 2020. She is a media and cultural studies scholar as well as a curator for film, video, and theory. As curator she has been working with the Berlinale (Forum Expanded), HKW Berlin and the Academy of the Arts of the World in Cologne, Germany, where she last curated "Hotspots. Migration and the Sea" in 2019, one of the iterations of her current research project "thinking with the sea" [Meer Denken].

In addition her work focuses on postcolonial (media) theory, critical migration and border regime studies, anti/racism, infrastructure studies, and the intersections of art, politics, and activism.

Sabine Hinrichs studied Sinology at the Department of East Asian Studies at the University of Vienna and spent a year abroad at the University of Nanjing, China, in 2014/15. She is currently working on her dissertation which focuses on the portrayal of the Mongol Yuan dynasty in early modern Chinese historical writing in order to investigate the integration process of non-Han Chinese peoples into a modern nation-state through historiography. She is deputy chair at the independent online-magazine dasReispapier, which publishes articles related to East Asia.

Starting from 2017 she has been teaching courses related to Chinese history and culture as well as to academic writing at the Department of East Asian Studies and, starting from October 2022, she teaches the course Introduction to Chinese Language, History and Culture at the Angewandte.

Irene Jancsy is a communications expert who has been working with the international humanitarian organisation Doctors without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) for over fifteen years. In her current job, she is responsible for the development and training of MSF’s field communications staff around the world. Intrigued by the dynamics of intercultural encounters, she became an intercultural trainer and coach. In this programme she facilitates the course Introduction into Intercultural and Transcultural Collaboration adopting a highly practical approach.

Irene holds a master’s degree in Roman languages from the University of Vienna and worked in journalism before entering the humanitarian sector.

Bouchra Khalili is a Moroccan-French artist and professor for Artistic Strategies. Encompassing film, video, installation, photography, printmaking, and publishing, her practice explores imperial and colonial continuums as epitomized by contemporary forced illegal migrations, and the politics of memory of anticolonial struggles and international sol­idarity.

Deeply informed by the legacy of post-independence avant-gardes and the vernacular traditions of her native Morocco, Bouchra’s approach develops strategies of storytelling at the intersection of history and micro-narratives. Combining documentary and conceptual practices, she investigates questions of self-representation, autonomous agency, and forms of resistance of communities rendernd invisible by the nation-state model. 

Elisabeth Kopf is an environmental and human rights activist, designer, artist, curator, educator and teaches the course Experimental Project Work as well as part of Cross-disciplinary Project Work. Her autodidactic studies and projects led to the opening of the studio "Design Buero Baustelle" in 1999, where international clients as well as self-initiated projects keep her and her higly transdiciplinary network busy.

Elisabeth's work stands for cross-border thinking, for conceptual and progressive design, and she is relentlessly engaged with future-oriented initiatives. She is the founder of "Babylon Design School", and she has co-initiated the research and education project "Alphabet of Life – Nature’s Learning Lab". She is a member of "AGI – Alliance Graphique Internationale" and of "Design Austria".

Chris Newman looks back on over two decades of professional experience in Management Consulting, Executive Training and Higher Education. He worked for leading consultancies such as Ernst & Young and Cap Gemini, high-tech companies like Ericsson, and has a long track record of teaching at various universities and FHs in Austria. Today he works as an executive trainer, coach, and consultant based in Austria focusing on Leadership, Change Management and Organizational Development issues. Due to his degree in Economics he continues to teach some Economics courses but given his professional experience, he also covers a wide array of Management courses. 

Being Austrian-American and having lived, worked and studied in Europe, the US and Asia, he brings a multi-cultural perspective into his class- and seminar rooms. Chris teaches the course Communication & Presentation Skills for Interdisciplinary and Transdisciplinary Teamwork.

Antoine Turillon is a french artist based in Vienna whose practices focus on site-specific community-based art projects. Together with Adrien Tirtiaux and Hannes Zebedin, he founded the research residency HOTEL CHARLEROI which realized together with more than 100 international artists, annual projects in public space. His last project was commissioned by the Institut für Kunst im öffentlichen Raum Steiermark and realised together with the department for space and design strategies of the Art University Linz.

He recently joined the department for Artistic Strategies as a Senior Artist where his teaching focuses on questions related to the public space, community building, as well as strategies of visibility to question how art can challenge inherent hierarchies and envision ways to build inclusive forms of communities.

Maria believes that expanding horizons across oceans and borders is the only way to tackle the challenges that await humanity. Her focus lies in the field of immersive technologies and their application in a sustainable and ethical way. She graduated with a bachelor's degree in communication design from the Berlin University of Applied Sciences in 2020 and developed a virtual reality experience to address the controversy around AI and its development. Parallel to her studies, she became a team member of the research project "Im/Material Theatre Spaces", which was commissioned by the German Federal Ministry of Culture and Media to investigate the use of immersive technologies in front of and behind the stage - both as a tool for construction and as a means for education and artistic practice.

As soon as an imagination is imagined, it can be formed together and become something given. Thus nothing is impossible and the given becomes the result of imagination. Through her training as a theater pedagogue, designer and curator, Famkje Elgersma combines various disciplines. She is concerned with the design of space and society and is convinced that design has, can have and, above all, should have an influence on political, scientific and social interaction. Famkje Elgersma uses art and design as a means of expression to communicate, to connect and to work collaboratively on imbalances. 

After Eva completed her high school degree with a focus on art subjects, she decided to do a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering to gain a broad insight into technologies. Throughout this degree with the specialization "Development and Construction” she learned much on how to solve problems systematically from a rational point of view which she now would like to broaden by studying the role that artistic methods play in addressing global challenges. In particular, how they can be applied and how to combine different components of design and technology.

Marcus is convinced that design has a therapeutic approach for society. With his bachelor's degree in Retail Design at the University of Applied Sciences Düsseldorf, he focused on the design of spatial experiences. In his bachelor thesis Space for Resonance he designed an experimental public space based on Hartmut Rosa's resonance theory. Marcus worked as an exhibition designer and project manager in Berlin and participated in an intercultural project in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals between South Africa and Germany. Currently, he is researching on an intercultural concept of space and aims to contribute to a more resonant world.

Mirjam has acquired knowledge in various aspects of the fashion discipline over the last ten years. After training as a tailor, she focused on conceptual fashion design and multi-layer weaving techniques during her bachelor's degree at the Linz University of Art. In the studio of Hussein Chalayan in London, she gained experience in the industry and in craftsmanship. In her master's degree at the Swedish School of Textiles, she focused on the relationship between people and garments. She is currently deepening her knowledge on the subject and exploring how the empathy aspect of garments can contribute to a more sustainable fashion industry. T he belief that a radical rethink is needed if we are to achieve a long-term model for living in harmony with all species is what motivates her speculative design approach.

Micol has a liberal arts educational background with a focus on global challenges and environmental sustainability, and defines herself as a generalist. Her goal is to provoke the system starting with the knowledge and understanding of processes, interdependencies and challenges that are relevant today and work towards a future-oriented vision of a sustainable society.

Timothy is an Austrian-American choreographer, performer and maker. His artistic work is framed within communal movement practices that explore how notions of collectivity can be rediscovered through means of collective listening and sensing, as well as on the implementation of embodied and discursive practices, happening at trans-disciplinary crossroads. Besides studies in Journalism and Geography, Timothy holds an M.A. in Choreography and a post graduate Masters in Cultural Management. At IPSD he is focussing on research into grassroots decision-making and feedback culture via expanded scores of embodied team-building.

From the northeast of China, Linya was born by the sea. In her undergraduate studies at the College of Architecture, Tianjin University, and her master's studies at the College of Design and Innovation, Tongji University, she focuses on both space design and service systems. She gained her oriental philosophical views on space after her research on Chinese classical gardens. She hopes to build a global artistic vision through her studies at Angewandte.

The possibility of narration always draws Dorian's attention. After graduating from Beijing Film Academy with a bachelor degree of film screenplay writing, he noticed the slide of narration in Hollywood as well as in China. Then, Dorian turned his attention to interaction design connecting the new technology trend in China, and begin his master degree studying in Tongji D&I. In Angewandte, Dorian start to soak the knowledge of narration attemptation using different art form worldwide. However, still, he believes writing and story telling are always the trigger for his art practice.

A curious soul from Singapore, Freda has a mixed cultural identity being both Chinese and Singaporean. After completing her study in architecture, she is now seeking novel means to gain more global perspectives in the west side of the world. Freda believes in the merits of a universally tolerating and understanding world. Thus, she wishes to investigate the possibilities of collaborative projects across continents. With her interesting background, she hopes to value add and acquire fresh perspectives during her studies at the Angewandte. 

Be open to everything, be sensible of everything, be willing to do everything.

Zhu Qianwen is from Tongji University, majoring in D&I Media and Communication. I focus on human connections in the community. I hope to contribute to the community in some way through artistic strategies. At the same time, I am also passionate about everyday life's histories, made up of ordinary people's microscopic perspectives. I hope to understand the relationship between design, art and society at Angewandte and to focus on the practice of art and innovation on a global scale with sharp insight.