Dr. Katalin: /ˈkɑtɑlin/Krasznahorkai: /ˈkrɑznɒhorkaːi/ is a Berlin-based art historian, curator, and author. Currently, since May 2022, she is the lead curator at the Brandenburgische Gesellschaft für Kultur und Geschichte and program director at the Brandenburg Museum for Future, Present, and History in Potsdam. There, she curated numerous exhibitions such the first overview of the work of Christina Glanz with a publication published by Hatje Cantz and a solo-show with Sven Johne, “Free World,”. She is also heading the project “For Real? Virtual Encounters with Holocaust-Surviors“.
As a curator, she co-curated with Christin Müller, Franziska Schmidt, Sonia Voss, and Susanne Altmann the exhibition “Pants Wearing Skirts/Hosen haben Röcke an. Die Künstlerinnegruppe Erfurt 1984-1994” at the Neue Gesellschaft für Bildende Kunst (nGbK), Berlin, with an accompanying publication published by Hatje Cantz in 2023 or the solo-show by Gabriele Stötzer at the Curated by… series in Vienna at the Gallery Steinek 2024. Since 2019 she is the Lead Expert and Lead Curator at the Council of Europe for the project “Free to Create –Create to be Free.” 2020, she has been co-authoring the Manifesto on Artistic Freedom in the Digital Age, launched by the Council of Europe. In this role Krasznahorkai has been representing this seminal issue on numerous international high-level events, such as at the 9th World Summit on Arts and Culture in Stockholm (2023) or the 3rd European Conference on Democracy and Human Rights (2022) and on numerous Council of Europe meetings, like the Conference of Ministers or the CDCPP Plenary Sessions.
FACEBOOK | LINKEDIN | INSTAGRAM
,
Krasznahorkai`s main field of interest is analyzing how art and power relations intertwine, tracing these relationships in former state security archives in East Europe or analyzing solidarity movements where communist dictatorships instrumentalized prominent actors of the Black Power Movement for their global acceptance.
Krasznahorkai started her professional career as a curator at the Ludwig Museum Budapest (1996-2003) and studied art history at the Eötvös Lorand University of Sciences Budapest, the Humboldt University Berlin, and the University and Vienna. 2003, she moved to Berlin and became the program director at the Collegium Hungaricum Berlin (2010-2015) while completing her Ph.D. at the University of Hamburg on Land Art and Walter De Maria`s Lightning Field. 2015-2020, she joined the ERC-Project “Performance Art in Eastern Europe. History and Theory” at the University of Zurich with the project on “Artists&Agents. Performance Art and the Secret Services.” As a result, she co-curated with Inke Arns and Sylvia Sasse the exhibition “Artists&Agents. Performance Art and the Secret Services” at HMKV Dortmund, which was awarded “Exhibition of the Year 2020” by the German AICA, and with Sylvia Sasse, Krasznahorkai is the editor of the publication of the same name, published by Spector Books in German (2021) and in English (2022). 2020-2022, she was awarded a Gerda-Henkel Research Fellowship to research the topic of Black Power in Eastern Europe. The project investigated the role of Angela Davis in art and art history in Eastern Europe during the 1970s until today. Krasznahorkai explored the question of how, why, where, and with what consequences the image of the Black American civil rights activist was used as a propaganda tool and as camouflage in dictatorships in the Soviet-ruled countries.
Krasznahorkai has been publishing and lecturing worldwide. She is a member of AICA-Hungary. Krasznahorkai was awarded the DAAD Research Grant, the Herder Award of the Alfred Toepfer Stiftung F.V.S., and the Gerda Henkel Research Grant.
Her new monograph, “Operative Art History or Who is Afraid of Artists?” will be published by Spector Books in 2024.
BIOGRAPHY
Dr. Katalin Krasznahorkai: Art at the Intersection of Power, Freedom, and History
Dr. Katalin Krasznahorkai stands at the vanguard of contemporary art history and curation, weaving together disparate threads of artistic expression, political power, and cultural resistance into a compelling tapestry of scholarship and curating. As a Berlin-based art historian, curator, and author with over two decades of experience, Krasznahorkai has established herself as a formidable voice in examining how art functions within and against systems of control.
Illuminating the Shadows: Artistic Freedom Under Surveillance
Krasznahorkai’s most significant contributions to contemporary discourse revolve around her groundbreaking research into the complex relationships between artists and state security apparatuses in Eastern Europe. Her work on the ERC-Project “Performance Art in Eastern Europe. History and Theory” (2015-2020) with Prof. Sylvia Sasse culminated in the critically acclaimed exhibition “Artists&Agents. Performance Art and the Secret Services,” co-curated with Inke Arns and Sylvia Sasse at HMKV Dortmund. This exhibition, which earned the prestigious “Exhibition of the Year 2020” award from the German section of AICA, revealed how secret police agencies monitored, infiltrated, and sometimes manipulated artistic communities.
The accompanying publication, which Krasznahorkai co-edited with Sylvia Sasse (published by Spector Books in German in 2021 and English in 2022), has become a seminal text in understanding the surveillance of artistic practices under authoritarian regimes. Her forthcoming monograph, “Operative Art History or Who is Afraid of Artists?” promises to further expand this critical framework, offering new methodologies for interpreting archived surveillance materials as unintentional documentation of artistic practice.
Beyond Borders: Intersections of Race, Politics, and Art
Krasznahorkai’s intellectual curiosity extends beyond the archives of the secret police to examine how global liberation movements were appropriated, transformed, and sometimes genuinely embraced within Eastern European contexts. Her Gerda Henkel-Grant-funded research project “Black Power in Eastern Europe” (2020-2022) broke new ground in analyzing how figures like Angela Davis were simultaneously celebrated, instrumentalized, and recontextualized within Soviet-aligned states.
This research illuminates the complex ways in which communist dictatorships attempted to leverage international solidarity movements for legitimacy while simultaneously suppressing internal dissent—revealing the paradoxes inherent in these regimes’ approach to global struggles for liberation. Her article “Color-blind and Color-coded Racism: Angela Davis, the New Left in Hungary, and ‘Acting Images'” (ARTMargins Online, 2021) exemplifies the nuanced approach she brings to understanding how racial politics traversed the Iron Curtain.
Institutional Leadership: Shaping Cultural Memory and Future Discourse
Since May 2022, Krasznahorkai is serving as the lead curator at the Brandenburgische Gesellschaft für Kultur und Geschichte and program director at the Brandenburg Museum for Future, Present, and History in Potsdam. In these roles, she has curated numerous significant exhibitions, including “Melting Gallery” with Diana Lelonek and Denim Szram, “Toxic Landscapes” with Tanja Engelberts, the first comprehensive solo-show of Christina Glanz with an accompanying publication by Hatje Cantz and “Free World” with Sven Johne.
Her leadership extends to educational initiatives like “For Real? Virtual Encounters with Holocaust-Survivors,” which explores innovative approaches to historical memory and testimony.
Concurrently, she serves as Lead Expert and Curator for the Council of Europe’s project on artistic freedom, “Free to Create – Create to be Free,” where she co-authored the influential “Manifesto on Artistic Freedom in the Digital Age.“ In 2020 and has been the Lead Curator for the digital exhibition „Free to Create — Create to be Free“; in this role Krasznahorkai has been representing this seminal issue on numerous international high-level events, such as at the 9th World Summit on Arts and Culture in Stockholm (2023) or the 3rd European Conference on Democracy and Human Rights (2022) and on numerous CoE-events, like the Conference of Ministers or the CDCPP Plenary Sessions.
A Global Voice: Education, Influence, and Recognition
Krasznahorkai’s intellectual formation spans multiple prestigious institutions across Europe. Following her initial studies of art history at Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest, she pursued advanced education at Humboldt University Berlin and the University of Vienna before completing her PhD at the University of Hamburg with a dissertation on Walter De Maria’s Lightning Field examined through the lenses of both art history and the history of technology.
Her authority in the field has been recognized through multiple prestigious awards, including the DAAD Research Grant, the Herder Award from the Alfred Toepfer Stiftung F.V.S., and the Gerda Henkel Research Grant. She has lectured extensively at international conferences and institutions, including CUNY New York, King’s College London, and ICI Berlin, establishing herself as a global voice on artistic freedom, cultural heritage, and the political dimensions of creative expression.
Curatorial Vision: From Budapest to Berlin and Beyond
Krasznahorkai’s curatorial career began at the Ludwig Museum Budapest (1996-2003), where she helped shape the emerging contemporary art scene in post-communist Hungary. After relocating to Berlin in 2003, she eventually became program director at the Collegium Hungaricum Berlin (2010-2015), where she conceptualized and implemented ambitious projects including the three-year series “Critique&Crisis. Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité reconsidered” in cooperation with the European Commission, the Council of Europe and the German Historical Museum.
2022 she co-curated “Pants Wearing Skirts/Hosen haben Röcke an. Die Künstlerinnengruppe Erfurt 1984-1994” at the Neue Gesellschaft für Bildende Kunst (nGbK) in Berlin, examining the radical women’s artist group that operated in the GDR during the final decade of its existence. This exhibition exemplifies Krasznahorkai’s commitment to excavating overlooked histories of artistic resistance and feminist expression in Eastern Europe.
Legacy and Future Directions
What distinguishes Krasznahorkai’s work is her ability to operate simultaneously as a rigorous academic, a visionary curator, an institutional leader, and a public intellectual. Her methodological innovations in approaching state security archives as inadvertent repositories of artistic documentation have transformed how scholars understand cultural production under surveillance. Meanwhile, her curatorial projects translate complex theoretical insights into visually compelling and accessible exhibitions that engage diverse audiences.
As she continues to explore the intersections of artistic freedom, state power, and cultural resistance, Krasznahorkai’s work remains deeply relevant to contemporary debates about surveillance, censorship, and the role of art in challenging authoritarian structures. In an era of renewed ideological polarization and mounting threats to artistic expression worldwide, her scholarship provides both historical perspective and methodological tools for understanding and defending creative freedom.
Through her multifaceted career, Dr. Katalin Krasznahorkai has not only documented the past but actively shaped how we understand the relationship between art and power—illuminating the shadows where these forces meet and revealing the resistance that flourishes even under the most oppressive circumstances.
PODCASTS/INTERVIEWS:
CURATED BY / EXPERT TALKS: LISA MORAVEC, KATALIN KRASZNAHORKAI AND GABRIELE STÖTZER on WORKING WITH STATE SECURITY ARCHIVES
In this conversation, Lisa Moravec (art historian, critic, curator), Katalin Krasznahorkai (art historian, curator), and Gabriele Stötzer (artist) discuss the underlying politics implicit in working with archives of the DDR as well as the urgency with which the artist has generated a national counter-narrative.
dr. katalin krasznahorkai 