Speakers Biography - Rudolf Steiner House

HILMA af Klint Symposium Contributors

Kurt Almqvist

Kurt Almqvist is President of the Swedish foundation Axel and Margaret Ax:son Johnson foundation or Public Benefit; Axel and Margaret Ax:son Johnson foundation or Public Benefit has supported the works of the Rosicrucian Theosophist and later anthroposophist Hilma af Klint since 2013, producing numerus conferences, books and television programs about Hilma af Klint and her groups works in conjunction with the international exhibitions in Sweden, Germany, Norway, Denmark, England, Israel and at the Guggenheim in New York 2018-19 and lately: Esoteric Sweden in conjunction with the exhibition curated by Daniel Birnbaum, Swedish Ecstasy, in Belgium at the Bozar in Brussels. He is the editor of numerous books about topics ranging from the future of war to the history of art. His latest book co-edited with Daniel Birnbaum Is The Saga of The Rose about Anna Cassels (1860-1937) contribution to the so-called Paintings to the temple traditionally but erroneously solely attributed to af Klint. He is Co-editor with Daniel Birnbaum of Hilma af Klint’s Catalogue Raisonné in six volumes published 2019-2022.

Marco Pasi

Associate Professor and the director of the Centre for History of Hermetic philosophy and related currents, University of Amsterdam. He has published extensively on modern Western esotericism, especially in relation to art, sexuality, and politics. He has curated exhibitions at the Palais de Tokyo (Paris), the Monash University Museum of Art (Melbourne), the Courtauld Gallery (London), and the Drawing Room (London).

Hedvig Martin-Ahlèn

PhD Candidate at the Centre for the History of Hermetic Philosophy and Related Currents, University of Amsterdam; Dissertation theme: Hilma af Klint’s art and religious ideas.

Johanna Tagada Hoffbeck

Painter, transdisciplinary artist and cultural practitioner based in rural Oxfordshire. Her practice is composed of painting, drawing, installation, sculpture, film, photography and writing. In several of her projects, interaction with the environment and others play a central role. Recent solo exhibitions include ‘Dreaming about Tomorrow’ at Nidi Gallery and ‘Caring & Tender -A Painter’s Photographic Diary’ at Terrace Square Photo Tokyo. Books on her practice have been published by InOtherWords Imprint, Chose Commune, Jane & Jeremy, and Poetic Pastel Press. Johanna is currently leading a one-year project at Camden Art Centre involving arts, gardening and learning.

Anne Weise

Editor at the Rudolf Steiner Archive in Dornach, Switzerland; Author of Marianne Brandt, Wegbereiterin des Produktdesign, a study of the German Bauhaus artists, and Alfred Bergel – Sketches of a Forgotten Life – From Vienna to Auschwitz, a Holocaust biography of a Viennese artist.

Raphael Rosenberg

Professor of Modern Art History at the University of Vienna. Specialist in abstract art and painting in the 19^th century. He is a member of the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities and of the Academia Europaea. His research focuses on the Italian Renaissance, the history of abstraction in art, and the perception of art. He is the founder of the Lab for Cognitive Research in Art History (CReA), specializing in eye-tracking research. Publications related to the topic of the conference: R. Rosenberg, Was There a First Abstract Painter? Af Klint’s Amimetic Images and Kandinsky’s Abstract Art, in Hilma af Klint – The art of seeing the invisible, Stockholm 2015, 87-100 & 322-323; R. Rosenberg, Die Kartographie der Aura aus dem Geist der Wirkungsästhetik. Synästhesie und das Verhältnis von Kunst und Esoterik um 1900, in Aufklärung und Esoterik: Wege in die Moderne, Berlin 2013, 583-604; R. Rosenberg, Turner—Hugo—Moreau: Entdeckung der Abstraktion, Munich 2007.

Workshops

Fritz Wefelmeyer

Independent researcher in the Humanities, formerly Head of English at Sunderland University.

Andrew Wolpert

Coordinator of the Humanities Section in Great Britain; formerly Course Leader at the Freiehochschule in Stuttgart and at Emerson College in Sussex

Angela Lord

International artist and author with a Diploma in Fine Arts from the Goetheanum, Dornach Switzerland. Book themes include Colour dynamics, Form Drawing, Art Aesthetics and Colour.

Coralee Frederickson

Eurythmy performer, teacher, and trainer; PhD in English Literature (SUNY, Binghamton); Co-carrier of Master’s in Eurythmy Education, Alanus University

Johanna Berger

Visual artist and art therapist, presently active as artist educator and creative consultant; MA in Fine Arts (Camberwell College) BA in Graphic Design (Universidad Católica de Valparaiso, Chile).

Moderator

Adrian Locher

Background in theatre and adult education; 2006 – 2021 Co-director of the ASHA Centre in Gloucestershire; from 2013 Council member of the Anthroposophical Society in Great Britain; currently an Executive Director of Rudolf Steiner House and the Marylebone Theatre.