Foto: Piotr Pietrus

My work begins where something unspoken starts to unfold: between bodies and spaces, materials and contexts, exploring the shifting forces that connect them. I follow the threads of these encounters — the weight of breath, the pull of gravity, the fleeting connections that linger and reshape what we know.

This curiosity has shaped my path. I studied design at HAW Hamburg, explored sculpture and time-based media at HfbK Hamburg, and worked with NYC Resistors in New York — a feminist hacker collective where making was an act of empowerment and experimentation. Later, during my Ph.D. at the Bauhaus University Weimar, I traced the poetics of breath and contingency, uncovering the beauty in the “also-otherwise.”

In my work — installations, objects, scenographies, collaborative projects and teaching — I craft spaces for what might emerge. These spaces are never static. They shift with the people and ideas that enter them, inviting reflection, play, and transformation.
Now based in Berlin, I continue to follow these threads, letting them lead me into new contexts, questions, and collaborations. If this resonates, let’s connect.

Education

2015–2021

Ph.D. Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, Germany

Faculty of Art and Design, Dissertation: Respiration Essays. Atembewegungen und Kontingenz in ästhetischer Erfahrung und Forschung (Breath Movements and Contingency in Aesthetic Experience and Research) (Grade: 1.0)


2006–2009

Diploma Hochschule für Bildende Künste (HfbK) Hamburg, Germany 

Time-Based Media and Sculpture


1998–2003

Diploma Hochschule der Angewandten Wissenschaften (HAW) Hamburg, Germany
Textile/Fashion/Costume Design

Awards and Scholarships

2023/24

Project funding from VG Bild-Kunst, publication fund of Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, and Open-Access publication fund for Respiration Essays

2023

Front Desk Residency #3, Hope Labour: Constellations. Lothringer 13, Munich, Germany

2019

Nomination for the Villa Aurora Fellowship 2020, Villa Aurora & Thomas Mann House e.V., Los Angeles, USA

2017–2019

Scholarships from Thüringer Graduiertenförderung, Weimar, Germany


2018

Travel and project funding from Goethe Institute Australia for Dynamics of Air, Melbourne, Australia


2016

Project funding from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) for New Material, London, UK


2014

Award in Forschergeist 2014 by Stiftung Haus der kleinen Forscher, Berlin, Germany


2013

Munken Works Residency and Scholarship, Arctic Paper Deutschland, Hamburg, Germany
Project funding from the Berlin Project Fund for Cultural Education, Germany


2012

Nomination for Casa Baldi Fellowship, Deutsche Akademie Rom, Italy
Project funding for the publication Maneuvre of Plenty


2011

Award in ABoT: Artist's Books on Tour, Museum of Applied Arts (MAK), Vienna, Austria

2009

Art Territory Residency, European Capital of Culture 2009, Vilnius, Lithuania



Teaching

2024

Teaching assignment for Federal Voluntary Service Program, Education Digital Inclusive, Waren/Munich, Germany


2023

Teaching assignment at the Academy of Fine Arts Munich, with A. Brannys Germany


2018

Co-organization of the Young Bauhaus International Research Conference, Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, Germany

2016–2019

Jury member for scholarships, Bauhaus Research School, Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, Germany


2016

Teaching assignment, Faculty of Art and Design, Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, Germany

2013–2014

Art and Electronics workshops, Berlin Cultural Education Fund, Berlin, Germany


2011–2012

Teaching assignments, Visual Communication Department, Hochschule für Gestaltung Offenbach, Germany


2007–2009

Workshops in the hacker collective NYC Resistors, New York, USA

2009

Guest lecturer, Pratt Institute, ITCP, New York, USA


Publications

2024

Respiration Essays. Atembewegungen und Kontingenz in ästhetischer Erfahrung und Forschung, Transcript Verlag, Bielefeld, Germany

Link

2023

Threshold Presence Dissolution: On the Physicality of Choir and Democracy,

in: Aesthetics and Materialities of Transition and Transmission, Schwabe Basel, Germany

WE / Time / Trembling / Softly. Chorus for ten voices out of 173467349014879236587593356416524,

in: On Meeting, Performance Research Journal, Issue 28.1, Wales, UK

2022

Addressable Volume. A Respiration Essay,

in: World in Flux. Air as an Artistic Material, Kunstmuseum Bonn, Snoeck Köln, Germany

2021

Addressable Volume,

in: On Air, Performance Research Journal, Issue 26.1, Wales, UK

Future-Oriented Perspectives,

Kunstwettbewerb-OSZ KFZ,

in: Kunststadt/Stadtkunst Nr. 68, Kulturwerk BBK, Berlin, Germany

2019

Addressable Volume,
Artist book and edition commissioned by the Duchess Anna Amalia Library, Weimar, Germany

2018

Liminal Passage,

in the accompanying catalog of the exhibition Dynamics of Air, RMIT Gallery, Melbourne, Australia

Art of Air: "The most normal thing, yet the most divine,"

Interview with Edith Kollath,
in: Cultural Magazine, Ed. 28, Goethe Institute Australia

Moments of Hesitation and States of Uncertainty,

in: Border City 2,

Documentation of the interdisciplinary project Transition-Transformation in San Diego, USA, and Tijuana, Mexico.

Restricted Sceneries #01 with R. Zaya,

in: I and My We. Who or What Shapes My Identity?, Forum für Entwerfen e.V., Munich, Germany

2017

Foundling #01,

in: Tunnel Below / Skyjacking Above: Deconstructing the Border,

Neue Gesellschaft für Bildende Kunst (ngbK), Berlin, Germany

2015

Dialog Window, Edith Kollath & Christina Irrgang in Conversation,

Artist book, Kunst Raum Mitte, Berlin, Germany

2013

Manoeuvre of Plenty, Monograph on Edith Kollath, Distanz Verlag, Berlin, Germany

2011

Thinking I’d Last Forever,

in: ABoT: Artist's Books on Tour, Artist Competition and Mobile Museum,

MAK Vienna, Austria; MGLC Ljubljana, Slovenia; UPM Prague, Czech Republic

2010

C-e-n-t-i-p-e-d-e,

in: No Matter. Try Again. Fail Again. Fail Better. Failure in Art and Knowledge, Kunstverein Hildesheim, Germany


Lectures and Performances

2024

Performance Lecture: Choir Practice: 8 Voices, Axel Obiger Gallery, Berlin, Germany

2023

Performance Lecture with A. Brannys, Motorenhalle, Dresden, Germany

Pandora’s Unboxing Show: On Hope and Hope Labour – An Evocation

Performative Presentation: Hope Labour. Constellations, with A. Brannys,
Lothringer 13 Halle, Munich, Germany

2022

Performance Lecture: Respiration Essays,

as part of the exhibition More Planets Less Pain. Constellations of Artistic Research, Kunsthalle Erfurt, Germany

Discussion and Performative Intermezzo with Elena Vogmann,

Rhythms und Atemgestalten, as part of the exhibition More Planets Less Pain, ACC Weimar, Germany

Performance Lecture: Breath Work,

as part of the exhibition World in Flux. Air as Artistic Material, Kunstmuseum Bonn, Germany

2021

Lecture during the conference Aesthetics and Materialities of Transition and Transmission,

within the DFG Project The Modes of Existence of Copies in Letter Copy Books,

Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, Germany,

Threshold Presence Dissolution: On the Physicality of Choir and Democracy with A. Brannys

2018

Panel Discussion: Breath. Without Worry, Foam, and Shadows – The Melancholy of Floating,

as part of the exhibition An Encyclopedia of the Delicate, Galerie Körnerpark, Berlin, Germany

Performance Lecture: Everything is Illuminated. On the Probable Contingency of the Present Future,

during the Young Bauhaus International Research Conference Dis/Solving Boundaries,

Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, Germany

Public Talk during the exhibition Dynamics of Air, RMIT Gallery, Melbourne, Australia

Climate & Design: Thomas Auer, Edith Kollath & Malte Wagenfeld

2015

Work Lecture: Breath as Chapters, Manoeuvre of Plenty, Kunst Werk Stadt Berlin, Berlin, Germany

2010

Performance Lecture: C-e-n-t-i-p-e-d-e,

as part of the exhibition and symposium No Matter. Try Again. Fail Again. Fail Better. Failure in Art and Knowledge, Kunstverein Hildesheim, Germany

Artistic Leadership and Collaborations

2024

Overall Visual Design Lead for stage, costume, and puppet design for the production
Peterchens Mondfahrt (Peter’s Moon Voyage), Theater der Jungen Generation, Dresden, Germany

Stage and Costume Design for Zanaida, Prinzregententheater, Munich, Germany

2023

Multisensory Total Design (stage, costumes, objects, scent) for the production

Fabian oder Der Gang vor die Hunde (Fabian or the Walk to the Dogs), Theater der Jungen Generation, Dresden, Germany


2022

Scenography and Costume Design for Eleos, Staatstheater Braunschweig, Germany

Extensive Costume Design for Casanova, Staatsoperette Dresden, Germany

2021

Costume Design for Aida, Landestheater Linz, Austria

Co-founder of the research-oriented and publishing collective ODE

ODE Collective, Berlin, Germany

2020

Co-Initiator of the AG VIS-A-VIS within the Society for Artistic Research Germany (GkFD), Berlin, Germany

Co-Initiator, Co-Curator, and Project Manager of the exhibition

More Planets Less Pain. Constellations of Artistic Research,

establishing connections between cultural institutions ACC Weimar and Kunsthalle Erfurt as key actors in the region, Germany

2018

Costume Design for Theodora, in cooperation with the Winter Opera and the Hans-Otto Theater, Potsdam, Germany

2013

Dynamic and Immersive Spatial Installation
Nur ein HUI (Just a HUI), in cooperation with the Theaterhaus Frankfurt am Main, Germany

2010

Curator and Initiator of C-e-n-t-i-p-e-d-e, a collective lecture-performance format within the symposium

No Matter. Try Again. Fail Again. Fail Better. Failure in Art and Knowledge, Kunstverein Hildesheim, Germany

2007–2009

Active Member of the feminist hacker collective NYC Resistors, New York, USA

2003

Co-Founder of the company Style_unique GbR, Hamburg, Germany, specializing in outfitting, styling, and scenography for fashion and lifestyle magazines as well as commercial and feature films, including the award-winning film Die Hände meiner Mutter (The Hands of My Mother)


Exhibitions

2025

Vier Fäuste und kein Halleluja, ACC Weimar, Germany

2024

Choir Practice: 8 Voices, Performance Lecture & Installation, Axel Obiger Gallery, Berlin, Germany

2023

Hope Labour: Constellations, Lothringer 13 Halle, Munich, Germany


Irgendwas mit Hoffnung (Something with Hope), Motorenhalle, Riesa Efau, Dresden, Germany

2022

Welt in der Schwebe (World in Flux), Kunstmuseum Bonn, Germany

More Planets Less Pain. Constellations of Artistic Research, ACC Weimar and Kunsthalle Erfurt, Germany

2021

Choir Practice, Stroux, Berlin, Germany (Solo with A. Brannys)

2020

Superposition, Diskurs Berlin, Germany


Findling, Mantik, Berlin, Germany (Solo)

2019

The Only Stable Thing, Palazzo Contarini del Bovolo, Venice, Italy


Thoughts on Tactility, Schwarz Contemporary, Berlin, Germany

2018

Dynamics of Air, RMIT Gallery, Melbourne, Australia


Preparing for Darkness, Kühlhaus Berlin, Germany


Thinking I’d Last Forever, Anna-Amalia Library, Weimar, Germany


Eine Enzyklopädie des Zarten (An Encyclopedia of the Delicate), Galerie Körnerpark, Berlin, Germany

2017

Transparency, Galeria SIC!, Wrocław, Poland


Tunnel Below / Skyjacking Above: Deconstructing the Border, Neue Gesellschaft für Bildende Kunst, Berlin, Germany


Die Kapelle und das spezifische Gewicht der Zeit (The Chapel and the Specific Weight of Time), Former Chapel in the City Palace, Weimar, Germany


New Material, APT Gallery, London, UK

2016

Negotiating Space: I Never Thought You Were Like This, The 3rd CAFAM Biennial, Beijing, China


Nexus, Galerie Mario Mazzolli, Berlin, Germany


Spectrum 2: About Paper, Galerie Eigenheim, Berlin, Germany


The Making of the Unrealised, Kreuzberg Pavillon, Berlin, Germany


Date as Per Postmark, Fondation Hippocrène, Paris, France

2015

Espace Surplus LE PETIT, Projektraum Piano Alto, Berlin, Germany (Solo)


Die Spur des Anderen (The Trace of the Other), Kunst Raum Mitte, Berlin, Germany


Das Glücksprinzip (The Happiness Principle), Galerie Eigenheim, Weimar, Germany


Potential, Collectiva Gallery, Berlin, Germany (Solo)


Transform, Zhong Gallery / Migrant Birds, Berlin, Germany (Solo)


Sinneswandel (Change of Senses), Kunst Raum Mitte, Berlin, Germany (Solo)


Eine Enzyklopädie des Zarten, Wunderkammer, Castle Museum, Weimar, Germany

2014

Zwischenzeitlich (In the Meantime), Glogauair, Berlin, Germany


Restricted Sceneries #01, Performance Installation with Raman Zaya, Atelier Frankfurt, Germany


Schere, Stein, Papier (Scissors, Stone, Paper), Collectiva Gallery, Berlin, Germany

2013

Interferencje/Interferenzen (Interferences), Centrum Sztuki Fort Sokolnickiego, Warsaw, Poland


Manoeuvre of Plenty, Exhibition and Catalog Launch, Collectiva Gallery, Berlin, Germany (Solo)


Abschied in Blau (Farewell in Blue), CWO, Frankfurt am Main, Germany


Balance, Collectiva Gallery, Berlin, Germany

2012

Capri Art Projects, Projektraum Stilper, Frankfurt am Main, Germany


(Entre Nous), Literaturhaus Frankfurt am Main, Germany


Nothing Will Ever Be the Same, Luminale, Heyne Kulturfabrik, Offenbach, Germany


ABoT, Artist’s Books on Tour, International Centre of Graphic Arts (MGLC), Ljubljana, Slovenia

2011

ABoT, Artist’s Books on Tour, Museum für angewandte Kunst (MAK), Vienna, Austria


Liquid/Segni, Venice Design Week, Venice, Italy


In Light and in Gloom, KorridorGalerie, Atelier Frankfurt e.V., Frankfurt am Main, Germany


Sigh, Collectiva Gallery, Berlin, Germany (Solo)


Nothing Will Ever Be the Same, Fresh Paint Contemporary Art Fair, Tel Aviv, Israel


Bedevilment in Paradise, Proteus Gowanus, New York, USA

2010

Try Again, Fail Again, Performance and Project Development, Kunstverein Hildesheim, Germany


The Book as its Own Addendum, Marwen, Chicago, USA


Arduino – A Lineage, NYC Resistor, New York, USA

2009

Again, Again, Collectiva Gallery, Berlin, Germany (Solo)


Ringen, Cream Contemporary, Berlin, Germany


Nothing Will Ever Be the Same, Hochschule für bildende Künste (HfBK), Hamburg, Germany

2008

Property and Evidence, Dam Stuhltrager Gallery, Williamsburg, New York, USA (Solo)

Contact

Edith Kollath
+49 (0) 175 28 48 669

mail@edithkollath.com

Imprint