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EN: Monika Gabriela Dorniak is an artist, curator, educator and researcher whose anti-disciplinary practice traverses the boundaries between bodies, objects, and environments through performance, textile sculpture, and multimedia interventions. Her work unfolds within collaborative frameworks, mapping the shifting terrains of inherited and embodied memory. Dorniak has presented her exhibitions, performances and workshops at international institutions such as Kesselhaus at Kindl Berlin (48 Stunden Neukölln, 2024), Nationalgalerie Vilnius (2023), Drugo Mare in Rijeka (2022), Uferstudios Berlin (2021), Kommunale Galerie Bärenzwinger in Berlin (2019), Tate Exchange at Tate Modern London (2017 & 2018), Arts Catalyst in London (2016), and Foreign Affairs Festival at Berliner Festspiele (2014). She has been a guest lecturer at SOAS University of London (2022), Garage Museum in Moscow (2019), Al-Quds Bard College in Palestine (2018), and Chelsea College in London (2017).
Dorniak holds a Master's Degree in Art and Science (Department of Fine Art) from Central Saint Martins in London (2017). Since 2024, she has been a Ph.D. candidate in the art- and science-based Bi-National Ph.D. programme between HfK Bremen and HDK Valand in Gothenburg under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Mona Schieren and Prof. Dr. Mick Wilson, exploring the reverberations of the Second World War within rural, multispecies environments through auto-ethnographical and agricultural lenses.

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DE: In ihrer anti-disziplinären Praxis macht Monika Gabriela Dorniak die porösen Grenzen zwischen Körpern, Objekten, und Umgebungen mithilfe von Performance, (textiler) Skulpturen, Workshops und multi-media Interventionen erfahrbar. Ihre Recherche in Kunst, Choreographie, Psychologie und Design, verwebt sie oftmals in kollaborativen Formaten zu vererbten und verkörperten Erfahrungen. Die Ausstellungen, Performances und Workshops der Künstlerin wurden lokal und international präsentiert, u.a. bei DAS MINSK Potsdam (2026), KINDL Berlin (2024), National Gallery Vilnius (2023), Tate Exchange bei Tate Modern London (2017/2018), und Galeria Promocyjna Warsaw (2023). Dorniak ist seit 2024 PhD Kandidatin an der HfK Bremen und HDK Valand Göteborg in Schweden, und untersucht in ihrer Arbeit den anhaltenden Einfluß des zweiten Weltkrieges durch auto-ethnographische, landwirtschaftliche und artenübergreifende Perspektiven.

© VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2026, Monika Gabriela Dorniak, Portrait, Berlin

EDUCATION

since 2024 PhD candidate, HfK Bremen, DE & HDK Valand Gothenburg, SE
2025 Summer school, Otherworldly Communications curated by Constant, Morpho, Antwerp, BE
2023 - 2024 Free-standing Seminar, Contemporary Art and Health, HDK Valand, Online
2023 - 2024 School of Commons, Zurich University of the Arts (ZhdK), Zürich
2017 Master of Arts in Art and Science, Central Saint Martins, London, UK
2015 - 2017 Central Saint Martins, London, MA Art and Science
2013 - 2014 University of Arts, Berlin, BA Dance and Choreography
2011 - 2013 University Trier, BA Psychology
2008 - 2010 University of Westminster, BA Fashion Design

SOLO/DUO EXHIBITIONS

2025 u-u-u, i have a request for you, Stroboskop, Warsaw, PL
2025   A Wave, A Spine, A Vessel, Insola, Berlin, DE
2025   Where the Arboreal Conceals, What Endures? w/ Martyna Miller, AVU, Prague, CZ
2023   the (nonmetaphoric) use of the term ‘participation’, InTheCloset, Vilnius, LI
2023 the ease with which [a] may be distorted under the action of [b], Hošek Contemporary, Berlin, DE
2020 If Homunkulus Had A House, ROSALUX, Berlin, DE
2011   Anatomy is Adorning itself, Alex Xie Studio, DasWeekend, organisiert von Kunstverein Neukölln, Berlin, DE

GROUP EXHIBITIONS – selected list

2026   Memory Studies Association, Fundacione Cazadores, Buenos Aires, AR upcoming
2026 Scores as Scores, Stadtgalerie Saarbrücken, Saarbrücken, DE upcoming
2026   ever-permeable boundaries, POV Gallery, Berlin, DE upcoming
2025   How To Be In The Future?, Chisenhale Art Place, London, UK
2025   in relation with, Pony Books, Göteborg, DE
2025 Tracing Echoes, Heinrich-Schulz-Bibliothek, Berlin, DE
2024   48 Hours Neukölln, KINDL, Berlin, DE
2024 Walpurgisnacht, Center for Literature & Arts, Burg Hülshoff, Münster, DE
2024 What could possibly go right?, ZhdK, Toni Areal, Zürich, CH
2023   CollActive Matters, CLB Galerie, Berlin, DE
2023 WARSAW>KIN<BERLIN, Galeria Promocyjna, Warszawa, PL
2023 WeWater, Symbiotic Lab, Berlin, DE
2023   WARSAW>KIN<BERLIN, Milchhof Pavillion, Berlin, DE
2022   Künstlerische Tatsachen, TRAFO, Jena, DE
2022 Mapping The Cartographic, Drugo Mare, Rijeka, HR
2022 Critical Practice Studio, Haus der Statistik, Berlin, DE
2021 Pop Up Gallery, Art Apart, NAILS Projectroom, Düsseldorf, DE
2021 Rituale der Gegenwart, curated by SALVE, Künstlerhaus Sootbörn, Hamburg, DE
2021 Hold Hands, Kunstverein Leipzig, Leipzig, DE
2021   Black Beemer > White Boomer, City Gallery Pardubice, Prague, CZ
2021 Instability and Precariousness, Millepiani, Rome, IT
2020 Visard, Salve Berlin, Berlin, DE
2020 still connected, Weserhalle, Berlin, DE
2019   The Screen Is Not The Limit, Entkunstung, online
2019 dig:it, Museum of Arts, Arad, RO
2018   Vivid Unknown, ROSALUX, Berlin, DE
2017 10 Jahre, Kunstverein Neukölln, Berlin, DE
2017 This is an Art School, curated by Alex Schady, Tate Exchange, London, UK
2016   Postgraduates Auction with Sotheby, Lethaby Gallery, London, UK
2016 9 Evenings Series, Arts Catalyst, London, UK
2015 Remember Nature, curated by Gustav Metzger, Central Saint Martins, London, UK
2012 Wir bauen eine neue Gedankenskulptur, Alte Post, Trier, DE
2011   Koordinaten des Körpers, Kunstraum t27, Berlin, DE
2011   Exposició Síntesi, Festival Tallerts Oberts, Barcelona, ES

PERFORMANCES – selected list

2026   Your Body is s Water Vessel, flows – Schmiermittel der Theoriebildung, Humboldt University, Berlin, DE
2025   Canine Messengers, Arboreal Memories, Chisenhale Art Place, London, UK
2025   Canine Messengers, Arboreal Memories, Heinrich-Schulz-Bibliothek, Berlin, DE
2025 Sensing Capsule, Monster Reloaded, Strandbad Tegel, Berlin, DE
2024   language as a technology, School Of Commons, Toni Areal, ZHDK, Zürich, CH
2023   Your Body is a Water Vessel, WeWater, Insola, Berlin, DE
2023   half orphan, half witch, Monster Reloaded, Strandbad Tegel, Berlin, DE
2022   Your Body Is A Water Vessel, TRAFO, Jena, DE
2022 Metamorphosis, Entkunstung x Jakob Kukula Publication, Art Biesenthal, DE
2021   Amplification Of Fluctuations, Uferstudios, Berlin, DE
2019 My Fiction and You, Bärenzwinger, Berlin, DE
2018 Synchronised, Studio Complex, Curated by Alex Schady, Tate Exchange, Tate Modern, London, UK
2016 Metacognitive Tool, Why simple, when you can make it complex, Performance Studio, London, UK
2016 Metacognitive Tool, Acts Re: Acts, Wimbledon Arts Centre, London, UK
2014 100 Grad Festival, Sophiensaele, Berlin, DE
2013 CTM Hacklab Presentations, Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin, DE

MENTORING & TEACHING

2025-2026 Seminar, Examining Embodied & Inherited Memories, HfK Bremen, DE
2023-2025 Mentor, Mentoring Programme, University of Arts London, UK
2025 Seminar, Lygia Clark and the Politics of Memory, HfK Bremen, DE
2024 Workshop, Reminiscent Armour, Tanzhaus Zürich, Zürich, CH
2024 Workshop, Art & Health ambassadors, Lišiai, Online
2023 Workshop, Intergenerational Trauma & Beyond, Kit Gavatovicha, Lviv, UA
2023 Lecturer, CollActive Materials, Matters of Activity, Humboldt University Berlin, DE
2023 Guest tutor, Berridge Programs, FR
2022 Guest tutor, OSUN course: Dis-located Identities in a Fragmenting World, SOAS London, Online
2018 Guest tutor, Urban Studies & Spatial Practices, Al-Quds Bard College, PS
2018 Workshop, Anti-University Festival, Arts Catalyst, London, UK
2017 Guest tutor, BA Fine Art, Chelsea College of Arts, UAL, UK
2015 Workshop, Anthropocentric Choreography, Foreign Affairs, Haus der Berliner Festspiele, Berlin, DE
2011-2012 Teacher, Art classes, Grundschule Biewer, Trier, DE

LECTURING & MODERATING

2026 Lecturer, Memory Studies Association, Conference, Buenos Aires, AR upcoming
2026 Lecturer, Non-Human Agents in Memory Studies, Conference, Universität Regensburg, DE
2025 Lecturer, Canine Messengers, Arboreal Memories, Parse – Some Like It Hot, Conference, Gothenburg, SE
2025 Panel Convenor, STS-CH: Holding things together?, Conference, Zurich, CH
2025 Lecturer, Beyond Crises: Resilience and (In)stability, Conference, Prague, CZ
2025 Lecturer, Mystical Theology Network, Conference, Antwerp, BE
2024 Lecturer, Seminar ART >>>>=×=÷+/–=˜> THERAPY, HfK Bremen, DE
2024 Lecturer, Why Remember?, Peace & Conflict Culture, Sarajevo, BIH
2022 Moderator, Reactionary Art, Berlin Art Week, Uferhallen, Berlin, DE
2022 Moderator, Footnotes, School of Commons, Zurich University, Zurich, CH
2022 Moderator, Warding Off, Radio Show, Refuge Worldwide
2021 Moderator & Lecturer, Uprootedness & Hybridity, Seminar Series, Counterpoints Arts, UK
2019 Lecturer, Experiencing the Museum, Garage Museum, Moscow, RU
2019 Lecturer, Dublin Glass Biennale, Dublin, IRE
2018 Lecturer, Diversity, Arts and Culture, Berlinische Galerie, Berlin, DE
2015 Lecturer, Diversity, Arts and Culture, Berlinische Galerie, Berlin, DE

CURATING

2026   Memory Studies Association, Fundacione Cazadores & Zonderflag, Buenos Aires, AR   upcoming
2026   ever-permeable boundaries, POV Gallery, Berlin, DE   upcoming
2025   Tracing Echoes, Heinrich-Schulz Bibliothek, Berlin, DE
2025   in relation with, GIBCA Biennale Extended, PonyBooks, Gothenburg, SE
2024   non-linear constructions, Insola & Dammweg 216, Berlin, DE
2023   Passing on Resilience, commissioned by Goethe Institute Vilnius, National Gallery Vilnius, LI
2021 Uprootedness & Hybridity, commissioned by Counterpoints Arts, UK
2018   The Vivid Unknown, ROSALUX, Berlin, DE
2012 Wir bauen eine neue Gedankenskulptur, Alte Post, Trier, DE

STIPENDS, PRIZES & RESIDENCIES

2026 Project stipend, Constant, Brussels, BE
2025-ongoing PhD scholarship, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES), Bonn, DE
2025 Project stipend, Bezirksamt Charlottenburg, Berlin, DE
2024 Project stipend, Bezirksamt Charlottenburg, Berlin, DE
2023 Travel stipend, Goethe Institute Vilnius, LI
2023 Research stipend, Take Heart, Fonds Darstellende Künste e.V., DE
2023 Hošek Contemporary Prize, Berlin, DE
2022 Residency, Künstlerische Tatsachen, TRAFO, Jena, DE
2022 Stipend, Neustart Kultur, Kunstfonds Bonn, DE
2022 Exhibition and travel funding, Mapping The Cartographic, IfA, DE
2021 Residency, Hold Hands, Online
2021 Stipend, Take Action, Fonds Darstellende Künste e.V., DE
2020 Stipend, Berliner Senatsverwaltung für Kultur, Berlin, DE
2016 Residency, The Cube, London, UK

COMMISSIONS & COLLABORATIONS – selected list

2017 - 2024 Head of Outreach, Marc Quinn – Our Blood, DE, UK & USA
2018 - 2019 Performer, Matthew Herbert – Brexit Choir, DE, UK, IT
2017 Performer, Pauline Oliveros Study Group, Cafe Oto, London, UK
2017 Performer, Robert Whitman, Arts Catalyst, London, UK
2016 Choreographer, Baserange, Summer Collection, London, UK
2014 Choreographer, Rory Pilgrim – Affection is the best protection, NL /DE
2010 Performer, Vladimir Karaleev – Berlin Fashion Week, Berlin, DE
2009 Performer, Maaike Mekking – London Fashion Week, London, UK
2008 Performer, Antje Majewski – Rausch, Kunstverein Dresden, DE

BIBLIOGRAPHY

2026 Erdélyi, Rebeka. Activating Memory through Ecological Ruins. Article. Contemporary Lynx.
2025 Bilgin, Senem. The Smell of Interspecies Grief & Solastalgia. Article. Vision Magazine, no. 5.
2025 Russo, Silvia. Seduta Artistica. Interview. MOST Magazine.
2023 Mateeva, Lora. The phenomenological maps of Monika Dorniak. Interview. Coeur and Art.
2022 Mdivani, Nina, Monika Dorniak, A. Dadiani. Performance as Activism from Tbilisi to Berlin. Interview. JANE.
2022 Fischer, Leoni, and Symbiotic Lab, eds. MetaMorphosis. Entkunstung.
2021 Umunyana, Dydine. Students Of Life with Monika Dorniak. Interview & Article. Kind Kulture.
2020 “Past Pieces Merging With What I Call Now.” Out Of Stock, no. 1.
2017 “Metacognitive Tool.” Terra Firma Magazine Issue no. 4.
2016 Sliusarenko, Anastasia. Human being & technology. Interview. Metal Magazine.
2011 “Human Anatomy Is Adorning Itself.” Das Greif Issue no. 5.

Selected interviews
Most Magazine (2025) w/ Silvia Russo
Coeur & Art (2023) w/ Lorena Mateeva
Baserange (2021) w/ Umuco Podcast
The Ekru Project (2019) w/ Veronica Horwell
Metal Magazine (2017)