Hortensia Völckers has been the Artistic Director and member of the Executive Board of the German Federal Cultural Foundation in Halle an der Saale since 2002. From 1995 to 1997, she was a member of the curatorial team of the documenta X in Kassel, and from 1998 to 2001, she served on the supervisory committee at the Vienna Festival.
At the Federal Cultural Foundation, Ms. Völckers has developed numerous programmes which promote international cultural exchange, the field of dance in Germany, and discourse on socially relevant issues, such as migration, shrinking cities, the culture of sustainability, the future of labour, and cultural education (“An Instrument for Every Child”). Under her direction, the Federal Cultural Foundation has launched several new programmes, such as “Agents for Creative Schools”, “TRAFO – Models for Culture in Transformation”, “360° - Fund for New City Cultures” and “hochdrei – Changing City Libraries”. Each of these addresses current issues and developments in society and generates impulses for shaping various areas of cultural life.
| 1957 | Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina | |
| 1975 | School Certificate at Northlands School in Buenos Aires Moved to Germany | |
| 1976 | German School Certificate (Abitur) at the Studienkolleg in Munich | |
| 1977 - 1981 | Studied Politics and History of Art at the Ludwig-Maximilian-Universität of Munich | |
| 1981 - 1986 | Galerie Herzer in Munich Traineeship | |
| 1986 - 1987 | Resident in New York to research and prepare the Munich International Dance Biennale | |
| 1989 | Concept and organisation of "Dance '89"(Dance Biennale) on behalf of the Cultural Department of the City of Munich Co-director with Bettina Wagner | |
| 1989 - 1991 | Siemens cultural programme responsible for visual arts | |
| 1990 | Founded Völckers & Bergelt Concept for the "Sonderreihe Form" (Special Series Form) at Erlangen Theatre, with Martin Bergelt | |
| 1989 - 1991 | Concept and organisation of the "Dance '91" exhibition with works by Jan Fabre at the Kunstverein Munich, as part of "Dance '91" | |
| 1992 | Co-director of the ART Project Munich, Music Festival Concept for the special series "Das Schöne" (The Beautiful) at Erlangen Theatre | |
| 1993 | Concept and organisation of "Dance '93" Co-curator of the exhibition "Ordnung & Zerstörung" (Order & Destruction) in Lothringerstraße, Munich as part of "Dance '93" | |
| 1994 | Member of the jury at the International Dance Competition in Bagnolet (France) with 22 worldwide platforms | |
| 1995 | Co-curator of PHASE 1 - Visual Arts in the Theater Am Turm, Frankfurt Concept and organisation of "Dance '95" Curator of the exhibition "körper formen" (forming bodies)in Lothringerstraße, Munich as part of "Dance '95" Preparation of PHASE 2 in the TAT, Frankfurt | |
| 1995 - 1997 | documenta X, Kassel Personal assistant to the Artistic Director, Catherine David, and member of the Artistic Directorate, dx November 1997 Director of the Vienna Festival to June 2001 November 1997 Appointed to the Advisory Committee for Visual Arts at the Federal Chancellery | |
| 1998 | Member of the WEISZBUCH working group on reform of cultural policy in Austria | |
| 1999 | Guest lecturer at the Institute of Culture Management in Vienna | |
| 2000 | Artistic directorship of the International Dance Festival "tanz2000.at - ReMembering the Body" Curator of the exhibition "98/99/2000. Scholarships for Visual Arts. The new Generation of Artists" at Krems Art Gallery (with Wolfgang Denk and Brigitte Huck) | |
| 2001 | Member of the Programme Advisory Committee for Q21 of the MuseumsQuartier, Vienna Member of the University Advisory Committee of the Academy of Visual Arts, Vienna Publications with Martin Bergelt "Zeit-Räume", Hanser Verlag "Sonderreihe Form", Theater Erlangen "Ordnung and Zerstörung", Hanser Verlag "Sonderreihe Das Schöne", Theater Erlangen "körper formen", programme for Dance '95 With Gabriele Brandstetter "ReMembering the Body", Hatje Cantz Verlag, May 2000 Catalogue of the exhibition "98/99/2000. Scholarships for Visual Arts. The new Generation of Artists", December 2000 | |
| Since March 2002 | Member of the Executive Board and Artistic Director. At the Federal Cultural Foundation, Ms. Völckers has developed numerous programmes which promote international cultural exchange, the field of dance in Germany, and discourse on socially relevant issues, such as migration, shrinking cities, the culture of sustainability, the future of labour, and cultural education (“An Instrument for Every Child”). Under her direction, the Federal Cultural Foundation has launched several new programmes, such as “Agents for Creative Schools”, “TRAFO – Models for Culture in Transformation”, “360° - Fund for New City Cultures” and “hochdrei – Changing City Libraries”. Each of these addresses current issues and developments in society and generates impulses for shaping various areas of cultural life. |