Ways of Being, On Body Awareness

Beatrice von Bormann is curator of art 1860-1960 at the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam and mounted the exhibition Maria Lassnig - Ways of Being. At the moment, she is preparing a number of projects for 2021, including an exhibition exploring the work of German Expressionists Emil Nolde and Ernst Ludwig Kirchner and their specific relationship with ethnographic art, considered from a post-colonial perspective. The presentation is a co-production with the Statens Museum in Copenhagen. Von Bormann served as Head of Collections and curator at the Museum der Moderne Salzburg since 2014, curating shows such as Charlotte Salomon – Leben? oder Theater? and Affichomanie. Toulouse-Lautrec und das Plakat um 1900. Previously, in the role of freelance curator, von Bormann curated exhibitions including Oskar Kokoschka – Humanist und Rebell for Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, which travelled to Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, Dix/Beckmann: Mythos Welt for the Städtische Kunsthalle Mannheim, and the Kunsthalle der Hypo-Kulturstiftung in Munich. Von Bormann was guest researcher at the University of Amsterdam from 2002-2010.

Ashley Hans Scheirl was born 1956 in Salzburg, Austria. 1975-1980 s_he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna. Between 1979 and 1996 about 50 short films were produced. Ashley Hans - formerly 'Angela' - became known for her_his feature-length film 'Dandy Dust' (1998), which radically challenges norms of sexuality and gender identity as well as the medium cinema itself. Scheirl lived in London for 16 years where he participated in an international scene of queer and transgender artists. In 2003 he completed a post-graduate M.A. at Central Saint Martins College of Art & Design London concentrating on painting_installations. Since 2006 Scheirl is professor for 'Contextual Painting' at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna. In 2017 Scheirl participated in documenta 14, exhibiting in Athens and Kassel.

Chantelle de Nobrega works at international women's fund Mama Cash. Her research interests include feminist theory and praxis, ethics, body politics and the history of ideas. 

Sekai Makoni is a workshop facilitator, trainer, podcast host and researcher. Her work focuses on Blackness, colonial histories, womanism, faith, emotion and song. She is of Zimbabwean heritage by way of Cambridge and London and has academic experience from the University of Birmingham and the London School of Economics. She most recently graduated from her second Masters at the Sandberg Institute in Amsterdam. She is the granddaughter of Zimbabwean activists who were political exiles in the late 60s. Accordingly, activism and how it can be done in a way that recognizes trauma and allows for self-care is also important in her work. On her podcast Between Ourselves, she makes space for Black women’s voices on topics such as Black Europe, Zimbabwean women in the diaspora and mixed identities. She is currently exploring Black church and faith rituals that are queer-affirming, as well as how to speak about spirituality in the arts and academia.

Writer, poet and performer Rachel Rumai Diaz is a native foreigner who calls many countries her home. She paints images with words and events, and uses the world as her canvas. She is fluent in English, Spanish, Dutch and Spanglish and intertwines these languages to create poetry that triggers imagination, emotions and understanding. Rachel is passionate about equality and sharing untold stories of the people around her. As a storyteller her goal is to build a bridge between Art and Activism to create Artivism that touches on subjects like Feminism, Post-Colonialism, Identity and Diversity.
Rachel is co-founder of the upcoming art community ‘De Vrouwenkamer’, which focuses on giving female creatives a platform to express and share their art, and invites artists and the public for open discussions about subjects like sexism, inequality and feminism.
Rachel is also co-founder of ‘La Raza’, a collective founded by latinx female creatives in The Netherlands that attends to unite the Latinx community and create a platform for creatives to meet and represent the culture through art and activism.

Mounir Samuel became one of the most famous young commentators on TV and Radio in the Netherlands during the Egyptian uprising against President Hosni Mubarak in 2011, and later again in the revolts of 2012 and 2013. He is an author of more than a dozen books including fiction, poetry and non-fiction. He frequently publishes articles and editorials in almost all Dutch quality newspapers on a wide range of topics.
His public coming-out as gender queer transgender-person in 2015, led to massive public response and social outrage. He recently premiered his first large theater show “En toen schiep God Mounir” (And then God created Mounir) in which he deconstructs his many identities and calls for the creation of a new Adam - both feminine and masculine and truly living in harmony with the divine and its creation.