Catrine Val is an international conceptual artist specializing in photography, film, and performance. With a deep interest in the concepts of time and history, she focuses on the role of women within diverse cultural and political systems, as well as their contributions to the field of philosophy.
Born in Cologne, Germany, Catrine Val initially pursued a career in advertising in Vienna, Austria. However, feeling unfulfilled in that profession, she transitioned to the arts and earned a BA from the Art Academy in Kassel, Germany. She furthered her education through postgraduate studies at The Academy of Media Arts in Cologne, where she was the assistant to VALIE EXPORT for four years. Following her studies, she worked as an Artistic and scientific assistant for six years in the field of virtual reality at the Art Academy in Kassel.
Val has extensively explored popular etymology and collaborated with women globally. Recognized for her collaborations with female philosophers and activists, she was invited to the World Congress of Philosophy in 2018; Beijing. This collaboration resulted in the publication ‘Methodological Reflections on Women’s Contribution and Influence in the History of Philosophy,’ published by Springer in July 2020.In 2019, Catrine Val was awarded the prestigious WMA Commission in Hong Kong, leading to a three-year residency during a time of social and political turmoil. In the midtst of documenta 15 in Kassel 2021, her most important show so far, ‘Light Matters – An Iconography of Women Confronting the Dark,’ a site-specific, multimedia installation, unfolded as a significant contribution. The piece artfully articulates an unfolding and critical narrative of our times, engaging viewers in a thought-provoking exploration of societal and political complexities.
Catrine’s commitment to engaging with historical narratives continued with her ongoing project, ‘Living Memory,’ in collaboration with the German Embassy London and the Goethe-Institute London, in collaboration with the German Embassy London and the Goethe-Institute London, focuses on Jewish Holocaust survivors. It was recently exhibited at the Wiener Library in June 2023.
Catrine Val’s latest publication, ‘MEMORY UNSETTLED,’ was published by Kerber in November 2022, further cementing her impact in the art world. As a lecturer for Photography at HSD Düsseldorf, Germany, from 2019 to 2023, guiding students through performative experiments, Catrine Val integrates her educational role seamlessly into her commitment to feminism. The students, under her guidance, create artistically stylized visual worlds and essays exploring the complexities of individual responsibilities amid the ongoing analog-digital turning point. The feminism that belongs to the future is a feminism of justice that belongs to all of us.Recently, Catrine was invited to participate in the Being Human festival in November 2023. Being Human is the UK’s national festival of the humanities, led by the University of London, in partnership with the Arts and Humanities Research Council and the British Academy.
member of the Deutsche Fotografische Akademie .
Professional Background
SW 2023 – SW 2019: Lecturer for Photography, FEMINIST Collection, HSD Düsseldorf
WS 2019: Supervision of the Fashion Design Final Class, University of Bedfordshire, London
2011-2005: Artistic Researcher, Virtual Realities, Kassel Academy of Art, Germany
2004-2001: Postgraduate program with Valie Export, Academy of Media Arts, Cologne
1994-2001: Studies in Fine Arts at Kassel Academy of Art, Class of Urs Lüthi
Solo Exibithion
2024 — World Congress of Philosophy, PHILOSOPHIA ROOM, Italien
2023, 8th March, Sinn & Leffers, Kassel Germany
2022, Light Matters – An iconography of women confronting the dark, Uk14 , Kassel; Germany
2021 Catrine Val, BANG BANG – Wunderbare/Verwundbare Welt; FELD + Haus, Gallery, Frankfurt
2020 manifesto LIGHT MATTERS WMA Commission , Hong Kong
2019 The Changing Room, Departure Lounge, UK
2018 Philosophers, World Congress of Philosophy, Beijing, China
2018 Das Glück, Oberfinanzdirektion, Frankfurt
2017 A POEM OF MODENITY, Gallery FELD + HAUS, Frankfurt, Germany
2016 Kathmandu Girl, Photo Kathmandu 2016, Nepal
2016 Political Letters, Political Letters, Street Level, Glasgow, UK
2015 The Female Wisdom, Galleria de Imagens, Brazil
2015 The Lotus Chronicle, Museum de Ourense, Spain
2015 ENTROPY, Kaundu Museum, Taiwan
2011 BIG BANG, Gallery König, Berlin
Groupe Exibithion
2025 20/20 Women’s Lens” Exhibition at ANU Museum, Tel Aviv, Israel
2024 — Clockwork Bodies, Brunel University, London, Großbritannien
2024 Empower Her Art, National Museum of Egyptian Civilization, Kairo, Egypt
2024- Indian Photo Festival 2024, India
2024 — STORY ROOM Art Kikaku-Shitsu, Tokyo, Japan
2024 Stuttgarter Filmwinter – Festival for Expanded Media, Germany
2023 Living Memory, Wiener Library, London
2023 “Horizons,” Germanisches Nationalmuseum; Nuremberg, Germany
2022 SOLAR PHOTO FESTIVAL, Fortaleza, Brazil
2020 MEMENTO The Force Field of Memories Museum for Sepulchral Culture
2020 das erste mal zum zweiten mal, Marburger Kunstverein, Germany
2018 3rd Beijing Photo Biennale //
2018 Women’s Perspectives Now, Organ Vida 2018 , MOC, Zagreb, Croatia
2018 The Women Behind, Museum on the Seam, Jerusalem, Israel
2018 Riga Photomonth 2018, Latvia
2018 KATMANDHU GIRL, Diffusion 2017, UK
2016 International Triennial, Belgrade; Serbia
2016 Fata Morgana Gallery, Berlin, Germany
2016 Who Are Your #FEMALEHEROES? , Gallery Priska Pasquer, Germany
2015 The Lotus Chronicle, Indian Photography Festival, India
2015 Festival Circulation(s), Paris, France
2014 Philosophers, Kochi-Muziris Biennale India, India
2014 Hope & Faith, Encontros da Imagem 2014, Portugal
2014 Reflection, Darmstädter Tage der Photography, Germany
2013 Princesses, Warsaw Photo Days, Poland
2013 Falsefakes, Centre de la photography Genève, Swiss
2013 European Chronicles, International Festival of Photography, UK
2013 “Winner “Celebration”, Kaunas Photo Star, Lithuania
2012 Gaze On What I Gaze At, Art Museum at Art Park, Hsinchu, Taiwan
2011 Second Lives: Jeux masqués et autres Je, Casino Luxembourg
2011 Live Ammo, Museum of Contemporary Art Taipei, Taiwan
Film
2018 An Ode to Vaginismus, Athens & Epidaurus Festival
2017 Kassel Documentary Film and Video Festival, Germany
2017 An Ode to Vaginismus, Feministisches-Queeres Filmfestival
2017 Spectrale, Frankfurt, Germany
2017 An Ode to Vaginismus, International Documentary Film Festival OFF CINEMA, Poznań, Poland
2017 An Ode to Vaginismus, The International Women’s Film Festival Cologne, Germany
2016 The Lotus Chronicles, Short of the Year, Spain
2015 Transcendence, 5th International Short Film Festival, Cyprus, Greece
2015 Commodity Fetishism, MUSE Film and Dance Festival, Paris, France
2014 We, The Enemy, European Media Art Festival, Germany
2014 Strike a Pose, International Women‘s Film Festival, Cologne, Germany
2014 Mumbai Women‘s International Film Festival, India
Residencies
2019-2022 WMA Master, Hong Kong / London, United Kingdom
2018-2019 The Changing Room, British Council, UK
2018 Book of Change, Gender and Philosophy, FISP, Guangzhou, China
2017 A sud di donna, Breathing Art Company, Bari, Italy
2017 Half of a Perfect World, Art Quarter Budapest, Hungary
2016 Mixed-Media Residency at Photo Kathmandu, Nepal
2016 Political Letters, Scotland, UK
2015 Pepperhouse Residency, Goethe-Institute Max Mueller Bhavan, India
2014 Bangalo Residency, Goethe-Institute Max Mueller Bhavan, India
Publications
Her book FEMINIST was nominated for the German Photo Book Award in 2013.
Methodological Reflections on Women’s Contribution and Influence in the History of Philosophy, published by Springer in 2020.
LIGHT published by Mörel London in 2021.
MEMORY UNSETTLED was published by Kerber Germany in November 2022.
