Andreas Niegl

I studied Media- and Cultural Studies in Düsseldorf from 2010-2015 (B.A. finished, M.A. discontinued). In 2014, I earned my undergraduate degree with a thesis on feminist and Marxist critique of Claude Lévi-Strauss’ theory of marriage exchange. Since 2015 I study media art at the Academy for Media Arts in Cologne, focusing on performance, installation, and sound art.

Since 2013 I mainly work as a composer for and teacher in theater and performance (e.g. at FFT Düsseldorf, Schauspiel Essen, Oper Bonn, Helios Theater), especially with young performers (between 8-18). My individual work as artist deals with topics of surveillance, German fascism, education, and masculinity. Since 2017 I’ve been part of two performance collectives: “Formalhaut” with Jiyun Park & Camilo Sandoval and “You Are”.

I have been engaged with non-governmental politics since roughly 2010 when I co-organized protests against animal testing at the Uni Düsseldorf. Later, I was part of the intersectional feminist collective “Becoming Queer” who organized the queer-feminist conferences “Togetherfest” in Düsseldorf (2012/2013).

I was temporarily active in the political group “Association Début D’histoire,” who were engaged in organizing protests against the mass-deportation of migrants at the airport Düsseldorf as well as facilitating the work of Roma and Sinti activists in Düsseldorf. However, due to severe disagreements on matters of anti-muslim “critique” I left the group.

I was chair of the student council at Uni Düsseldorf from 2014-2015, giving me a brief insight into the structural problems of parliamentary democracy and a retroactive appreciation for a self-organized political praxis.

My primary field of interest in relation to the project is the question of art’s social function and a critical inquiry of independent art spaces as potential places of political intervention (as described in detail later).