Frank Schönfeld

Frank is simply the one that every project needs. A practical person, a sharp and accurate thinker, and mostly a man of action who doesn't waste time with words. This is the reason why he is in charge of the entire production at the POCHEN Biennale.

Other organisations also appreciate his practical attitude: the Chemnitzer Entwicklungsgesellschaft (CWE) for instance, where since 2017 he has been helping the Chemnitz cultural and creative industries to prosper. In this context, he is also responsible for the conception of the Chemnitz Creative Development Programme (Krach). As Chairman of the Spinnerei e.V., he is also responsible for numerous other events: the Treibsand festival, for example, or cultural events such as the a wie apéritif at the State Archaeological Museum in Chemnitz (smac).

Rene Szymanski

Rene is the one in our team who has an eye for everything. At POCHEN he is responsible for the accompanying programme. In this role, he investigates how multimedia art can be understood by everyone, and how the content of our topics can be succesfully delivered to the public.

Since his studies of philosophy, he has been doing this regularly for the Kulturhaus Arthur in Chemnitz. There he is mainly entrusted with project development, artist booking and fundraising.

Natalie Bleyl

Natalie grew up in a village near Aue in the Ore Mountains and came to Chemnitz in order to photograph the local urban vibes. As a photographer she is part of our social media team.
After graduating in European studies at TU Chemnitz, she started her master’s programme in British and American studies. Apart from that, she is a successful analogue photographer: This year, she received the recognition award of the JugendKunstTriennale of the Kunstsammlungen Zwickau. Her works have hung in the Club Zukunft and the Kunstsammlungen Zwickau, among other places. Now, they hang at our place – on Instagram and Facebook, where she regularly provides you with photos.

Ann-Kathrin Ntokalou

Ann likes good communication and is therefore always looking for the adequate shape that is conveying content in a sustainable way. After studying Cultural and Literary Studies in Munich and Madrid, she has also dedicated herself professionally to the subject. In the cosmos of the Süddeutsche Zeitung, she has managed campaigns, built up networks and told stories both in an analog and a digital manner. Then, just in time for the start of the pandemic, she came to Dresden to introduce the rest of the world to Saxony's diverse (cultural) landscape. She also writes about contemporary art and is interested in intercultural exchange.

Lucia Schaub

Lucia came to the POCHEN Biennale as a mail artist: in other words, she sends all different kinds of objects around the world and checks if the postal service delivers them.

In addition, she works as a project coordinator at the Chemnitzer Wirtschaftsförderung (CWE). Her showpiece so far: the city’s 875th anniversary. And she is also well networked beyond the city limits, whether at festivals in Switzerland or in Chemnitz’ twin city Düsseldorf as long art is in the focus.

Agnieszka Kubicka-Dzieduszycka

Agnieszka's professional career began in the field of media art when she met the founders of Poland's first media art festival WRO (later the WRO Biennale) in the mid-1990s. Since then, the German studies graduate has devoted herself completely to art and, as assistant, producer, project manager, curator and art mediator, has conceived and realised 20 editions of the WRO Media Art Biennial together with her team. She has initiated and curated several international cooperation projects, represented the WRO project internationally - and worked mainly with artists from German-speaking countries, Japan and Ukraine. In addition, she repeatedly takes on freelance projects, has worked as a freelance television writer and producer, coordinated the programme of the Polish Year in Austria, co-conceived a festival for creative television, taught students at the Art Academy in Wroclaw and curated the media art section for the Sapporo International Art Festival 2020. As curator of this year's POCHEN Biennale, she focuses on the varying forms of art's presence in society and the transmission of ideas that can take place through it. 

Hannes Drißner

You can see that Saxony is getting trendy when Swabian people start moving here, for example Hannes. Growing up in Stetten am kalten Markt in Baden-Württemberg, he is working as a freelance graphic designer and book editor for the art book publisher Spector Books in Leipzig. After studying media design at Duale Hochschule Baden-Württemberg (DHBW) and University of Reading (UOR), he then moved to Saxony.
Apart from that, he is a passionate skateboarder. Straight outta skatepark, Hannes is responsible for the visual design of POCHEN. Catalogues, flyers, everything visual carries his unique signature.

Constanze Gröer

Constanze at POCHEN keeps an eye on the numbers: she skilfully juggles them from debits to credits, so that the balance sheet looks alway accurate. 

She is also the Feel-Good-Manager in the Spinnerei e.V. Here she takes care of everyone and everything: all balance sheets, members and guests. In addition to the bookkeeping, she runs yoga classes, gives massages, handles incoming requests and makes appointments.

Philipp Nürnberger

Philipp does magic at the POCHEN Biennale: from his fingertips directly to the laptop screen. He is responsible indeed for the entire text production at the POCHEN Biennale.

He has been already doing this for years:  first as a student of German studies, then as an editor in a publishing house, and today as a copywriter in a marketing agency in Chemnitz. And if the magic is not happening with his fingertips he definitely suceeds with his legs: at the Chemnitzer Druckbude e.V. he works as a skateboard trainer.

Kim Brian Dudek

Kim has been a member of Spinnerei e.V. since September 2021. He moved from Halle (Saale) to Chemnitz to be in the middle of where things happen, he was previously with the media art association Werkleitz Gesellschaft e.V. (2019-2021). There, he gained experience in all areas, whether curation, production, or site development. He grew up in Hesse in – to his own statement – a structurally weak and educationally deprived region before moving to Jena to study political science and philosophy. Then, he finished his Master of Science in Halle in the field of International Area Studies. He has always been attracted to interdisciplinary studies and was involved in the production of "Black Market for Useful Knowledge and Non-Knowledge License no. 5" (2018), which was commissioned by TRAFO - Modelle für Kultur im Wandel of the German Federal Cultural Foundation. His ambition was to bring art and knowledge together, try new and improve old things.

Benjamin Gruner

With Benjamin everything falls into place. As project manager of the POCHEN Biennale, he keeps together all those involved in the project using their ideas to give a proper shape to the festival.

Since 2013, many other projects had his signature next to art and cultural events: an example is the ibug festival for urban art, since 2019 also the OSTRALE art biennial in Dresden, and this year even an exhibition as part of the European Cultural Year 2020 in Rijeka (Croatia). But he is also very active on a regional level, and involved in several local cultural events: the organisation of the Fête de la Musique, and the event series Salam Chemnitz - A History of Friendship.