Since 2025, the exchange programme between the Kebbel Villa in Schwandorf and the Künstlerhaus Dortmund offers artists from both institutions the opportunity to continue and expand their artistic work in a new environment. As part of this programme, participants can move from rural to urban areas for a month - and vice versa.
This opportunity to leave their familiar surroundings and to immerse themselves in a completely new atmosphere makes the exchange particularly exciting. The artists can experience the influences and dynamics of both a natural, rural cosmos and a vibrant, urban art scene and incorporate them into their work.
The exchange between the Kebbel Villa and the Künstlerhaus Dortmund not only strengthens the artistic dialogue between the two locations, but also creates the opportunity to make creative use of the inspiring differences between rural and urban spaces.
The respective host venue carefully selects the participants from a shortlist of suitable artists: This underlines the conspiratorial nature of the programme. The scholarship is financed by the associations of the two artists' residences.
What kind of world do human beings need to live in— sociopolitically, publicly, and privately? Mara Pollak addresses this inherent need, which often navigates the boundary of failure, through her work with the medium of photography — frequently combined with installations, objects, sound pieces, or moving images.
In her work, she dedicates herself to exploring human existence within sociopolitical structures, aiming to make complex sociocultural narratives visible. Through her minimalistic yet compelling visual language, she combines precise documentation with aesthetic contemplation, offering subtle insights into the interplay of space, identity, and the political. Her engagement with hidden, understated subjects creates works that challenge existing perspectives, encouraging a rethinking of everyday realities and sensitising viewers to deeper, often unnoticed social structures.
Mara Pollak (*1986 in Oberwesel / Rhein) graduated in 2021 as the master student of Julian Rosefeldt at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munichand received the Promotion Award for Photography from the City of Munich in 2018. Recently, her works have been exhibited at the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart and the Goethe-Institut Paris.