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Elena Sinanina, Artistic Director and Curator

Elena Sinanina is an artistic director and curator, who lives and works in Berlin. After studying theater, German literature and psychology, she collaborated with various theaters, museums and exhibition institutions while also initiating and running interdisciplinary projects at the intersection of visual and performative art. She has developed ritual-based formats and experimental work with hypnosis, and, in 2018, trained as a hypnotherapist (clinical hypnosis in the tradition of Milton H. Erickson). Sinanina`s practice focuses first and foremost on the aesthetic exploration of the deep dimensions of history that operate in the collective unconscious. Her fields of work include performance, installation, sound and discourse. Since 2017, she has been presenting her own projects as a curator and artistic director. Together with Attila Csihar she developed, among others, the "BLACK LAND" project in 2022 and, since February 2023, has chaired the Initiative BLACK LAND e.V. together with Yara Mekawei.

Contact: elena.sinanina (at) gmail (dot) com

For further information on the projects, please visit the homepage of BLACK LAND


Projects, exhibitions, presentations (selection)


2025

Curator and researcher on artifacts of Hatshepsut, research at the Metropolitan Museum of Art New York, Brooklyn Museum New York, Egyptian Museum Berlin and Deir el-Bahari, Egypt. Supported by the Goethe Institute. January - ongoing.

Presentation of the "BLACK LAND"-projects at the conference "Politics of Curatorship", Escola das Artes, Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Porto. May 7 - 9.

2024

Discussion on art in public space, presentation of "Radical Playgrounds" at KunstSpielOrte Munich, October 25.

Curator and artistic director, video documentary on "BLACK LAND" as part of the exhibition "Elephantine. Island of the Millenia" at the James-Simon-Galerie, Berlin. April 26 - October 27.

Artistic production manager, "Radical Playgrounds", Berliner Festspiele at Gropius Bau. Curated by Joanna Warsza and Benjamin Foerster-Baldenius. Artists: Edgar Calel, Alice Chauchat, Céline Condorelli, Massimo Furlan, Florentina Holzinger, Ingela Ihrman, Martin Kaltwasser, Agnieszka Kurant, Joar Nango, Vitjitua Ndjiharine, The Playground Project, Tomás Saraceno, Mariana Telleria, The School of Mutants, Irad Verkron, Raul Walch. April 27 - July 14.

2023

Curator and artistic director of the interdisciplinary festival "BLACK LAND, RED LAND - RESTITUTE" at silent green, Kunstquartier Bethanien, Palais am Festungsgraben and public space, Berlin. Artists and contributors: Attila Csihar, Yara Mekawei, Cevdet Erek, Hani Mojtahedy, Lea Draeger, houaida; Fazil Moradi, Monica Hanna, Nora Al-Badri, Saraya Gomis, Johannes Auenmüller, Sarah Imani, Yunus Ersoy, Oliver Baurhenn, Sandeep Sodhi. Funded by the Senate Department of Culture and Social Cohesion. December 21 - December 28. 

Interview on "BLACK LAND, RED LAND - RESTITUTE" with Laura Ewert, Monopol Magazin.

Interview on "BLACK LAND, RED LAND - RESTITUTE" with Michael Irwin, Ocula Magazine.

Curator (with Cagla Ilk), Yvonne Rainer "HELLZAPOPPIN`: What about the bees?". Staatliche Kunsthalle Baden-Baden and Performa New York. January 27 - January 29 at the Staatliche Kunsthalle Baden-Baden.

2022

Curator and artistic director of the project "BLACK LAND" (performances, installations) at the Neues Museum Berlin, James-Simon-Galerie and silent green. Artists: Yara Mekawei, Attila Csihar, Anabelle Iratni, Charles Hedger, Zorka Wollny, Kenda Hmeidan, Vera Maria Kremers, Roman Lemberg. Funded by the Capital Cultural Fund (Hauptstadtkulturfonds). July 21, 23 and October 29.

2021

Curator and artistic director of the project "ARA". Volksbühne Berlin and silent green. Artists: Attila Csihar, Arion Csihar, Julia Csihar, Maria Buzhor. May 25 (online) and August 6.

2019

Artistic collaborator (as part of the curatorial team) of the project "4. Berliner Herbstsalon". Maxim Gorki Theater, Palais am Festungsgraben, Zeughauskino and other venues in Berlin. Artists: Morehshin Allahyari, Grada Kilomba, Yael Bartana, Mehtap Baydu, Luchezar Boyadjiev, Alfredo Jaar, Sejla Kameric, Viron Erol Vert, Candice Breitz, Natasha A. Kelly, Katarzyna Kozyra, Henrike Naumann, Regina José Galindo and others. October 26 - November 17.

2017

Co-curator (as part of the curatorial team) of the project "3. Berliner Herbstsalon". Maxim Gorki Theater, Palais am Festungsgraben, Kronprinzenpalais and other venues in Berlin. Artists: Alfredo Jaar, Manaf Halbouni, Norbert Bisky, Bankleer, Banu Cennetoglu, Chto Delat, Grada Kilomba, Ender/ Kolosko, Cevdet Erek, Azin Feizabadi, Dan Perjovschi, Isabella Sedlak, Santiago Sierra, Aykan Safoglu, Nasan Tur, Fiete Stolte, Viron Erol Vert, Tribunal „NSU-Komplex auflösen“, Mehtap Baydu, die Anti-Humboldt Box and others. November 11 - 26.

Curator and artistic director (with Martin Eder) of the séance series "Mentale Physik und die Strahlen Luzifers". Volksbühne Berlin. With Martin Eder, Lilith Stangenberg, Olga Hohmann, Lilli Moors, Eva Vuillemin, Carl Thiemt and others. March 12, 13 and April 25.



Main photo by Lutz Knospe (during "BLACK LAND" at the Neues Museum Berlin, July 2022).

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