About us

Sa 19. October 2013 - Fr 13. December 2013

Almost 100 years after the outbreak of the First World War (Sarajevo) and roughly 20 years after the collapse of Yugoslavia, the wars in Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and the bombing of Belgrade by NATO forces, as well as the current accession process to the European Union, it is time to take a closer look at the Balkans. For CULTURESCAPES, it is important to give a society which is still in a state of upheaval a chance to present itself in a different light to the one we are used to in the media. Allowing artists to be heard and present their works within the context of global cultural development is the goal of this edition of the CULTURESCAPES festival. We wish to discover the geographical and cultural diversity and identity of the Balkans.
The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation is currently phasing out its cultural programme in the Western Balkans after almost 20 years: This is a wonderful opportunity to take stock of the current situation and to critically examine the role culture plays in development policies.

Jurriaan Cooiman
Director & Board Member

Born in the Netherlands in 1966. Founder and director of CULTURESCAPES.

He studied cultural management at the University of Basel. He has been the head of Performing Arts Services, a production agency, and has worked in collaboration with, amongst others, the Od-theater, Circle X Arts, Sankai Juku, Werkbühne Berlin and Goetheanum. Since founding CULTURESCAPES in 2003, he is a main driving force and inspiration for all the festival editions. He lectures on cultural management and networking. He is a member of the European Festivals Association (EFA).

Rembert Biemond
President

Rembert Biemond was born 1958 in the Netherlands. After completing a bachelor's degree in economics at Erasmus University Rotterdam and a masters in management and organisation at Groningen University, he was the manager of a college in his home country from 1983-1987. From 1987-1997 Rembert worked at the Goetheanum, Dornach, among other things as the executive director of the Goetheanum Bühne. In 1997 he started Biemond & Partners Basel, Agents & Consultants under the roof of which PASS, Performing Art ServiceS, the predecessor to CULTURESCAPES was founded. Rembert was managing partner at Unternehmen Mitte, Basel and from 2002-2009 CEO of Lehmann Natur, Mönchengladbach.

Since 2010, Rembert is living in Järna, Sweden with his wife and two children, where he is working as a cultural entrepreneur. At Kulturcentrum Järna he initiated a large-scale exhibition tetralogy under the title ‹See! Colour!›, which included vast light instalations by the american artist James Turrell.

He retains his ties to Switzerland as a board member of the Edith Maryon foundation, the Ackermannshof AG, the Evidenz foundation, as well as the Pro Denkbilder association and as co-founder and founding president of CULTURESCAPES.

Dr. André Baltensperger
Board Member

Born 1950 in Basel, Dr. André Baltensberger holds a PhD in Musicology and Economics. He was principal at the Music Academy Basel as well as delegate for the music colleges in the directorate of the University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Northwestern Switzerland. Before this he had been working as business economist in the printing industry and later took up a post as a reserach assistant at the Paul Sacher-Foundation in Basel. For ten years he was the general secretary at the conference of the cantonal governments in Bern as well as director of the Swiss Foundation for Federal Collaboration in Solothurn. 

The focus of his work, next to questions relating to federal government, are music of the 20th century, choruses, tropes and sequences in the High Middle Ages as well as the music history of the renaissance era. He obtained his PhD in 1987, his thesis focussing on the French-Grecian composer Iannis Xenakis. He also is a trained pianist, harpsichord player and vocalist. He is married, has one son and lives in Riehen near Basel.

Michael Braune-Krickau
Board Member

Dipl. Ing. (Industrial Engineer)

Born in Dresden in 1943, Michael moved to Basel in1989 after previously living in Zürich and Berlin.

Michael graduated in Technology and Business Administration from the Technical University Berlin and subsequently worked as a director of studies and an assistant lecturer, as well as a consultant and a manager, initially at GDI Rüschlikon and then at the WWZ Forum of the University of Basel. He is currently course coordinator und director of an MBA programme at the University of Basel.

Christian Hörack
Board Member

Born in Mannheim in 1975, Christian has lived in Switzerland since 2002. He studied Art History and History in Lausanne, Vienna, Lille and Heidelberg and has a PhD in Art History.

Curator for precious metal and ceramics of modern times at the Swiss National Museum as well as employee and program curator at Neues Kino Basel. President of Keramikfreunde der Schweiz and member of the Committee of Experts of the Jewish Museum of Switzerland. He previously worked at museums in Neuchâtel, Basel, Lausanne, Strasbourg, Vienna and Lille.

Publications on «L’argenterie Lausannoise» (2007), «Basler Goldschmiedekunst» (2013 und 2014) und «Prêt à porter. L'histoire du sac plastique et papier en Suisse» (2016).

Daniela Settelen-Trees
Board Member

Born 1960 in Bern, Daniela Settelen-Trees has lived in Basel since 1989. After her studies of art history in Bern, Basel and Munich, worked as an art historian in museums, galeries and foundations.

Since 2008 she is the directior of the GGG Atelierhaus in Basel, among other mandates in cultural management, and has published several art books.

Jurriaan Cooiman
Director & Board Member

Born in the Netherlands in 1966. Founder and director of CULTURESCAPES.

He studied cultural management at the University of Basel. He has been the head of Performing Arts Services, a production agency, and has worked in collaboration with, amongst others, the Od-theater, Circle X Arts, Sankai Juku, Werkbühne Berlin and Goetheanum. Since founding CULTURESCAPES in 2003, he is a main driving force and inspiration for all the festival editions. He lectures on cultural management and networking. He is a member of the European Festivals Association (EFA).

Christine Beglinger
Festival Assistant

Born 1987 in Zurich. Works for CULTURESCAPES since 2012.

Studied art and mediation at the Lucerne School of Design and Art with Erasmus scholarship at the Ecole de Recherche Graphique ERG in Brussels. 2011/12 internship in public relations and project assistance at the Kunstraum Walcheturm Zurich. Since 2011 museum tours with "artefix Kultur und Schule" in the Kunst(Zeug)Haus Rapperswil.

Engaged in various art exhibitions and founding member of the culture and event platform "Zollhaus Luzern".

Ana Dragić
Festival Assistant
Anna Fintelmann
Sponsoring & Fundraising

Born in Nordrhein-Westfalen (Germany) in 1971. Anna has been living in Basel since 2001. 

She worked as a physiotherapist, teacher and dancer, before further training in cultural sciences, business management and NPO management; she has been working as a culture manager since 1999, specialising in music management, event culture, project consulting and coaching for artists and ensembles.

Anna joined CULTURESCAPES in 2013.

Sarah Kingston
Communications

Born in Zurich in 1986. Sarah started working for CULTURESCAPES in 2013.

She first studied History, Film Studies and English at the University of Zurich. Whilst living in Ireland from 2010 - 2013, she completed a MA in Cultural Policy and Arts Management at University College Dublin.

Before and during her studies Sarah interned and worked for a number of arts organisations in Dublin, such as Dublin City Archives, the Chester Beatty Library and the National Museum of Ireland.

From 2012 - 2013 she completed a traineeship with National Museums Northern Ireland, working in the curatorial department of the Ulster Museum, Belfast.

Katrin Oesteroth
Communication Assistant

Born in Nordrhein-Westfalen (Germany) in 1989. Katrin has been working for CULTURESCAPES since 2013.

Katrin studied at the Institute for Journalism and Public Relations at the Gelsenkirchen University of Applied Sciences and spent an exchange semester at the Zürich University of Applied Sciences in Winterthur.

Prior to studying, Katrin participated in theatre workshops of the Polish Institute Düsseldorf in both Germany and Poland. She was also an assistant director at intercultural youth theatre projects and assisted in theatre and art courses for children and young people. While at university, she worked as a journalism intern at a local radio station and for Westdeutscher Rundfunk.

Benita Ortwein
Production

Born in Mainz (Germany) in 1979. Benita has been working for CULTURESCAPES in Basel since 2012.

She studied Cultural Studies, Aesthetics and Applied Arts in the specialist subjects music, visual arts, cultural management and education at the University of Hildesheim in Germany.

Before and during her studies Benita was musically active as an accompanist und chamber musician. Her artistic activities include painting and prints.

She has worked seasonally for various festivals since 2004: From 2008 - 2009 in the management team of the des NDR choir; from 2009 - 2010 in the management team of the Choir Academy of the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festivals; and from March 2010 and June 2012 at the Artistic Operations Office and for "Music Festivals in the Countryside" as part of the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival. 

Alexa Tepen
Communication

Born in Schopfheim (Germany) in 1976. Alexa joined CULTURESCAPES in 2012.

She studied International Culture Management in Freiburg before travelling through South America and Asia.

Alexa was responsible for communication and events at the Vitra Design Museum in Weil am Rhein from 2000 to 2009. She subsequently worked as a PR specialist at the Burghof Lörrach and for the STIMMEN-Festival. Since 2014 she is the co-director of KlangBasel music festival.

Thomas Kohler
Technical Director

Born in Basel in 1965. Works for CULTURESCAPES since 2008.

Thomas worked at Kaserne Basel until 2001 before becoming a self-employed light and sound technician for various companies, such as Biennale Bern, Anna Huber Company, Christoph Marthaler, and was the technical director of the Music Festival Bern.

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