Curriculum

Thomas Heidtmann is a Berlin-based media artist and artist-curator, studied at the Berlin University of the Arts. He works at the intersection of art, science, and technology. As founder of SPARTH (since 2017) he investigates and promotes space-art activities. Since 2015 he has been a co-founder of Lacuna Lab e.V., a Berlin-based, artist-run association.

His works have been presented internationally in the frame of festivals such as Ars Electronica (2020), Vorspiel / transmediale & CTM (2021, 2018, 2017), Milan Design Week (2019), UnBox Festival (2019), Bengaluru Fantastic (2017), ISEA Hong Kong (2016) and Retune Festival (2016). He was involved in projects at Fundació Joan Miró (2017) and Hamburger Bahnhof (2011). Additionally, he lectured in institutions such as Srishti Institute (2017), Goethe-Institut Bangalore (2017) and Martin-Gropius-Bau (2016). Organisations such as Goethe-Institut (2017–2021) and Senate Department for Culture and Europe Berlin (2020–2021) supported him.

He has extensive experience in curating and organising events. At Lacuna Lab, he has been responsible for multiple exhibitions and residencies, such as A Vital Piece of Information – Fragments of a Greater Context (2019) and Serious Sparkles. An inquiry into Artificial Stupidity (2017) in the frame of Vorspiel / transmediale & CTM. In 2017 he organised the world’s first space-art hackathon SPARTH in cooperation with the Goethe-Institut in Bangalore, India. Since 2018 he has been running the space-art community SPARTHabitat in Berlin.

Selected Exhibitions

2021 // Domino 3 // Salve Berlin // Berlin, Germany
2021 // Moon Gallery: The Bridge // Planetarium Leiden // Leiden, The Netherlands
2021 // Scattered Partners // Vorspiel / transmediale & CTM / Lacuna Lab // Berlin, Germany
2020 // Close Cosmos // Ars Electronica / Leiden Observatory // Leiden, The Netherlands
2020 // Moon Gallery Garden // Zone2Source / Het Glazen Huis, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2019 // Designblok 19 // Designblok Prague International Design Festival // Prague, Czech Republic
2019 // Hoogtij #57 // Quartair // The Hague, The Netherlands
2019 // Milan Design Week // Ventura Projects / BASE Milano // Milan, Italy
2019 // UnBox Festival // Bangalore, India
2018 // The Moon Gallery // Space Expo // Noordwijk, The Netherlands
2018 // The Moon Gallery // ESA / ESTEC // Noordwijk, The Netherlands
2018 // NOW. A Kinetic Life // Art Laboratory Berlin // Berlin, Germany
2017 // Srishti Live 2017 / Bengaluru Fantastic Festival // Bangalore, India
2017 // deLight Festival // Berlin, Germany
2017 // Autogestión // Museum MAN / Fundació Joan Miró // Barcelona, Spain
2017 // Serious Sparkles. An inquiry into Artificial Stupidity // Vorspiel / transmediale & CTM // Berlin, Germany
2016 // Retune Festival // Berlin, Germany
2016 // ISEA2016HK // OPEN SKY GALLERY ISEA2016 // Hong Kong, China
2016 // Lacuna Lab: Activation // Spektrum // Berlin, Germany
2015 // FAK im Viertel // Speckhaus Gängeviertel // Hamburg, Germany
2014 // The IT Show // Kunstquartier Bethanien // Berlin, Germany
2014 // earlyhumanadapter – Installation I, II // Kleiner Salon / BcmArte / artisticDialogue project // Berlin, Germany
2012 // I like it RAW // Epicentro Art Gallery // Berlin, Germany
2011 // Veilchen // UferHallen // Berlin, Germany
2011 // The White Rabbit // Nationalgalerie im Hamburger Bahnhof, Museum für Gegenwart // Berlin, Germany

Awards / Grants / Residencies

2021 // Ambassador of Change / Flipping the Future (Grant) // Creative Hubs Network Europe / Creative FLIP / Goethe-Institut Brussels / European Union
2021 // Bösenberg-Stipendium (Residency) // Bösenberg-Stiftung / Künstlerhaus Meinersen // Meinersen, Germany
2020 // NEUSTART KULTUR Stipendien-Sonderprogramm (Grant) // Senate Department for Culture and Europe / Kulturprojekte Berlin // Berlin, Germany
2020 // CoLab TechArt Fellowship (Residenz) // Jaaga.in & BeFantastic.in / British Council / Islington Mills, UK / Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan Bangalore // Bangalore, India
2019 // Multi-sector funding festivals and series (Grant) // Senate Department for Culture and Europe // Berlin, Germany
2019 // bangaloREsidency-Expanded (Grant) // Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan Bangalore // Berlin, Germany
2019 // Artists’ Contacts (Grant) // ifa – Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen // Berlin, Germany
2018 // bangaloREsidency-Expanded (Grant) // Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan Bangalore // Berlin, Germany
2017 // Srishtinterim / Srishti Live (Residency) // Srishti Institute of Art, Design and Technology // Bangalore, India
2017 // The Story of Space Residency (Residency) // The Story of Space Festival // Goa, India
2017 // bangaloREsidency (Residency) // Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan Bangalore // Bangalore, India
2014 // artisticDialogue (Residency) // Kleiner Salon / BcmArte // Berlin, German
2016 // Hardest Hack (Award) // Science Hack Day // Berlin, Germany
2016 // Official Selection for OPEN SKY GALLERY ISEA2016HK at ICC Tower (Award) // Hong Kong, China
2016 // Berlin Calling (Grant) // Goethe-Institut Hong Kong // Hong Kong, China
2008 // Nominated for Regina Pistor Prize for Painting (Award) // University of the Arts // Berlin, Germany

Lectures / Workshops / Screenings

2021 // How to make an immersive event? (Online Talk) // Tour de Moon / The University of the Underground // London, UK
2021 // BeFantastic Dialog Session (Online Talk) // BeFantastic / Jaaga // Bangalore, India
2021 // Tycho and Stargazer (Online Talk) // International Day Of Light 2021 / Cosmic Tribe // Karachi, Pakistan
2019 // SPARTH & Moon Gallery (Presentation) // EPSC – European Planetary Science Congress / CICG – Centre International de Conférences de Genève // Geneva, Switzerland
2018 // NOW. A Kinetic Life (Talk) // Art Laboratory Berlin // Berlin, Germany
2018 // The Art of Planetary Science (Screening) // The University of Arizona / Lunar & Planetary Laboratory // Tucson, USA
2017 // KOSMICA Film Night / Scope Sessions #70 (Screening) // Panke // Berlin, Germany
2017 // KOSMICA Film Night (Screening) // Cine Tonalá // Mexico City, Mexico
2017 // The Story of Space Festival (Talk & Workshop) // Goa, India
2017 // Spot on bangaloREsidents 2017 (Talk) // Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan Bangalore // Bangalore, India
2017 // Retune Studio Visit #13 (Talk) // Lacuna Lab // Berlin, Germany
2016 // Art in the Age of Earthquakes / 3rd Pecha Kucha Art Night (Talk) // peer to space / Performing Encounters (Talk) // Martin-Gropius-Bau // Berlin, Germany
2016 // Scope Session #55 (Talk) // Panke // Berlin, Germany

Curation / Events

2021 SPARTH & KOSMICA Institute: The Space Race Conference – Moon, Mars Futures // Stiftung Planetarium / Archenhold Observatory / Senate Department for Culture and Europe // Berlin, Germany
2021 Scattered Partners // Vorspiel / transmediale & CTM / Lacuna Lab // Berlin, Germany
2019 A Vital Piece of Information – Fragments of a Greater Context – Pratyush Raman, Noor us Sabah Saeed // Uqbar // Berlin, Germany
2019 bangaloResidency Expanded: Pratyush Raman // Lacuna Lab // Berlin, Germany
2019 Artist-residency ifa – Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen: Noor us Sabah Saeed // Lacuna Lab // Berlin, Germany
2019 SPARTHabitat #5: Daniela de Paulis // Milan Design Week // Milan, Italy
2018 SPARTHabitat #4: Albert Barqué-Duran // Spektrum // Berlin, Germany
2018 SPARTHabitat #3: Bernard Foing (ESA) & Athiye Jawad (Planet Labs Inc.) // Spektrum Berlin // Berlin, Germany
2018 NOW. A Kinetic Life // Art Laboratory Berlin // Berlin, Germany
2018 Lacuna Lab x3 // Lacuna Lab // Berlin, Germany
2018 bangaloResidency Expanded: Bidisha Das // Lacuna Lab // Berlin, Germany
2018 SPARTHabitat #2: Nahum // Spektrum // Berlin, Germany
2018 SPARTHabitat #1: Activation // Spektrum // Berlin, Germany
2017 Serious Sparkles. An inquiry into Artificial Stupidity // Vorspiel / transmediale & CTM // Berlin, Germany
2017 1st SPARTH – Space Art Hackathon // Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan Bangalore / Srishti Institute of Art, Design and Technology // Bangalore, India
2016 Lacuna Lab: Activation // Spektrum // Berlin, Germany

Education

Apr 2004 – Sep 2010 // Studies of Fine Arts In classes of Prof. Pia Fries, Anette Haas, Prof. Bernd Koberling, Prof. Daniel Richter and Prof. Karl-Horst Hödicke // University of the Arts, Berlin
Aug 2008 // Graduate of Fine Arts // Focus on Painting and New Media