Conversation with Katharina Wolf
Co-curator at Block Universe & Art Consultant at Contemporary Art Society
f you were to give advice to your younger self, what would it be?
Stay ambitious and always true to your values
Don’t be put off by people in power and don’t hesitate to question them or what you are being asked to do - trust your inner self.
What are you excited about right now?
I am very excited to have joined the acclaimed Arts Consultancy Team at Contemporary Art Society in London. I am looking forward to work with a brilliant team of like-minded people and realise high quality art projects in a range of contexts and environments. Recent projects span from managing Gillian Wearing’s statue of women’s right campaigner and suffragist Millicent Fawcett in Parliament Square to developing public art and cultural strategies for Cambridge University. It’s an incredibly fascinating organisation, supporting the arts and culture for over 100 years!
In addition, I am passionate about my work as Co-curator of Block Universe, London’s leading international performance art festival & commissioning body. We host a 10 day programme of diverse performances and discussion across the city every year in May.
We have been energised by our last edition which was widely spoken about. We want to channel this energy into next year's 5th anniversary edition & plan to leave a meaningful mark. I love the months ahead of the festival, filled with location scouting, connecting dots and fiery discussions about the forthcoming programme. The festival is directed by an all female team, which I am very proud of.
Tell us about a woman, well-known or not, whom you admire and why.
There are so so many! I will choose the inspiring, extrovert German Jewish dancer Valeska Gert (1892—1978) - a fascinating polymath. She was fearless and provocative, at a time where women where given the right to vote. She started off in Berlin as Dadaist dancer, became an actress, model, fashion trendsetter and enigmatic performance artist. She used her body to tell stories and consistently surprised and shocked her audience by performing immobility, the nerviness of the city, traffic accidents, death, orgasms or boxing. Her infamous dance-portrait-pantomimes were radical experiments on stage. She was exiled in 1933, and has been vastly overlooked, but counts now as one of the most important figures of Avantgarde dance.