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Sebastian Gräfe & Matthias Kranebitter

Sebastian Gräfe (*1976 in Grimma) studied fine arts at the HBK Braunschweig. A recurring theme of his artistic work is the location of man in nature. He illuminates this relationship as critically as poetically and with subtle humor. Since the early 2000s, he has been realizing projects in public space and showing his work in international galleries and institutions. Gräfe has been awarded various prizes and grants for his work, including from the Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes, the state of Lower Saxony, Stiftung Kunstfonds and the Akademie der Künste. He lives and works in Berlin and Reitwein/Oder.
www.imperimental.org

Matthias Kranebitter (*1980) studied composition in Vienna, Amsterdam and Graz. His music addresses aspects of our media society and trash culture with its flood of information; it is characterized by a high degree of density and heterogeneity. His work has been awarded, among others, the Impuls Kompositionspreis Graz, Stadt Wien Förderungspreis and the Austrian Staatsstipendium. Previous collaborations have included ensembles such as the Belgian Nadar Ensemble, Decoder Ensemble Hamburg, Ensemble Mosaik Berlin, Talea Ensemble New York, Klangforum Wien, and others. He is co-founder of the Unsafe+Sounds Festival and artistic director of the Black Page Orchestra.
www.matthiaskranebitter.com

MEASTRXS DEL AGUA (Teachers of water)
Cali, Colombia

“We are teachers of water. Our slogan is “Healing the human being, we heal the water’s territories”

Maestrxs del Agua defines itself as a “Mobile Water School” that travels through urban and rural territories training water teachers. We emerged in Farallones Park in the city of Cali, Colombia. We started a water volunteering programme in 2014, which incorporates social actions to protect water as a common good and fundamental human right, as well as the conservation and restoration of water basins, rivers and wetlands as legal subjects with rights. This project focuses on governance, contributing to the construction of knowledge and local dialogues in social, political, academic and business platforms together with other socio-environmental initiatives.

SAHAR QAWASMI (Sakiya Art Science Agriculture Initiative)
Ramallah, Palestine

Sahar Qawasmi is an architect, restorer, organizer, and co-founder of Sakiya – Art | Science | Agriculture. She is dedicated to reclaiming, reestablishing, rewilding, and (re)building different forms of common structures and infrastructures, challenging and reconfiguring private ownership and isolating social practices. She engages in collective practices using indigenous, environmental, and feminist methodologies.

MARCELA MORAGA(Community Water Museum)
Renaico River, Chile

Marcela Moraga is a Chilean visual artist and educator living in Berlin. In her projects she investigates traces of human intervention, both in the geological structure of the earth through extractive practices, and in the composition of social spaces through architecture and anthropology.

The Museum is run by Marcela Moraga in cooperation with the Social Collective Let’s Save the Renaico River (Colectivo Social Salvemos el Río Renaico).

The Social Collective Let’s Save the Renaico River (Colectivo Social Salvemos el Río Renaico) was created in 2013 in Renaico, Chile. It is made up of a group of young people who carry out various cultural activities, offer environmental workshops for children and publish an online newspaper.

MARY MISS
New York / Milwaukee, USA

Mary Miss has been redefining how art is integrated into the public realm since the early 1970s. She is interested in how artists can play a more central role in addressing the complex issues of our times—making environmental and social sustainability into tangible experiences. She developed the “City as Living Lab”, a framework to make sustainability issues tangible through collaboration and art. Miss’s influential work has been recognized by numerous awards, including the Urban Land Institute’s Global Award for Excellence and the 2017 Bedrock of New York City Award. She has also received three grants from the National Science Foundation.

AYUMI MATSUZAKA, ROBIN TAKASHI LEWIS
Tokyo, Japan

Ayumi Matsuzaka, co-founder of DYCLE – Diaper Cycle, in Berlin Germany. Originally a conceptual artist, Ayumi has been exploring the human role in energy and material cycles through participatory art interventions, over the last 10 years. After carrying out projects relating to soil in Europe and Asia, she learnt about the production of Terra Preta soil substrate, whilst realising that parents are keen to reduce the huge amounts of diaper waste. Diaper Cycle is a system for these parents, offering 100% compostable diaper inlays, which after use, are transformed into healthy soil, ready to plant fruit trees.

Robin Takashi Lewis is a social entrepreneur based in Japan, recently recognised by M.I.T. Technology Review in its ‘Top Innovators Under 35 Japan’ awards. He is Co-founder of mymizu, an initiative to reduce consumption of single-use plastics (two-time winner of Japan’s Ministry of Environment Award). Robin is also the Co-founder of Social Innovation Japan, a platform for social good focusing on the UN Sustainable Development Goals, named as one of Nikkei’s 100 companies building the future of Japan. For over 10 years, Robin has worked with social enterprises, NGOs and inter-governmental organisations, including consultant roles at the World Bank, and has managed humanitarian operations in countries such as Haiti, Nepal, Vanuatu and Mozambique.

SUREKHA
Bangalore, India

Surekha is a visual artist, curator, and artivist, who has been exploring artistic forms through installations, video, photography, performance and public art projects. Her works investigate how visuals engage with gender, ecology, and socio-political aesthetics. Her works are shown in Indian and International galleries, museums and public spaces.

PROF. DR. RAFAEL ZIEGLER
HEC Montreal
Montreal, Canada

Prof. Dr. Rafael is a professor at HEC Montreal, director of its institute of cooperative studies and a fellow of the social ecological research group GETIDOS. He is inspired by social innovations not only as a source of empirical materials but also as a spring of new ideas and concepts. His focus is on social innovation in relation to water, justice and sustainability. After studies in philosophy and economics at the London School of Economics and at McGill University, he founded in 2009 the social-ecological research group GETIDOS, which he co-ordinated for ten years until April 2019. Over the last years, he has been particularly interested in the capabilities approach. Since 2017 he work as an associate editor of the Journal of Human Development und Capabilities, since 2019 he is also an associate editor of the Journal of Social Entrepreneurship.

CITIZEN ART DAYS
(Oscar Ardila, Kerstin Polzin, Stefan Krüskemper)
Berlin, Germany

Citizen Art Days e.V. is an association of artists based in Berlin. Since 2012 Citizen Art Days has offered an artistic platform that brings together citizens, artists and city actors to solve specific problems in public spaces using artistic strategies. The themes are post-growth economy, sustainability, and coexistence. The aim is the joint development and participatory shaping of ideal (artistic) spaces that offer ample opportunities for experimentation and design for all involved.

JAANA PRÜSS
Moderation

Jaana Prüss is a cultural activist, artist and curator, she founded Morgengrün Kommunikation in 2004 for the conception and implementation of projects in the field of art, culture and sustainability and has since curated exhibition projects in the context of environmental and social issues.

For the Citzen Art Days 2013, she initiated a Markt der Fähigkeiten (market of skills) and published ‘fair-handeln! Anstiftungen für zukunftsfähiges Handeln’, which was nominated for Environmental Book of the Year (German Environmental Foundation) and awarded by the Council for Sustainable Development.

Since 2021 she is curator for the Knowledge and Maker Festival Fläminger Kreativsause and responsible for the communication of the model project Haus der Statistik.