Das Helmi is an international puppet theater collective founded in 2002 by Florian and Felix Loycke, Emir Tebatebai, Brian Morrow and a variety of changing guests. All Helmis are directors, actors, musicians and writers working as a group. The hallmark of the collective is the slap-dash-genial foam puppets, which Das Helmi created out of found objects and whose creation is now taught at universities. A further hallmark is the acting methodology: the Helmis don't hide behind their puppets or from the audience but appear openly on the stage. Puppets and players are all part of the whole, mutually underlining each other’s presence. After the first production "Hänsel and Gretel," "Kalif Storch" followed and then "Anansy and the Plantain," "Cinderella," "Seven Goats," then "Van Gogh!" and "Leon the Professional," with which they garnered international acclaim. Das Helmi found a permanent home in 2007 at the Berlin off-theater Ballhaus Ost. A long-term cooperation with the Jüdische Museum in Berlin followed, as did invitations to the Stückemarkt in Heidelberg and to the Mirjang Theater Festival in Korea, IFIAc in Salvador/ Bahia, to the Rohkunstbau, Mühlheimer Stückemarkt, Auawirleben, Schillertage Mannheim, Impulstanz Vienna, the Festival Okkupation in Zurich. At the "Impulse" Festival in 2009 Das Helmi was awarded the Dietmar N. Schmidt Prize. Tom Stromberg remained manager until 2013. The theater group toured numerous German cities and schools with the educational play "Let’s Talk about Sex" (2009.) In 2010 they followed this with "Axel hol den Rotkohl" and the world premier of "Axolotl Roadkill" commissioned by Helene Hegemann. In 2012 Das Helmi was represented with 50 figures on the Berlin Theatertreffen. In 2013 Das Helmi worked at the Gorki Theater with Jan Bosse and has put on its own performances at the Theater Freiburg, Schauspiel Hannover and the Theater Oberhausen and cooperated with the Schlachthaus Bern and the Theater am Neumarkt ("Sündenstadt"/"Sin City".) In 2014 they put on the play "Mars Attacks" with the Theater Hora in Zurich.
The Film "Man from another star" was produced by Felix Loycke, Emir Tebatebai, Brian Morrow, Florian Loycke, Dasniya Sommer, Solene Garnier, Solame-Musicshow, Burkart Ellinghaus and Francis d'Ath.
The Austrian artists’ collective goldextra founded in 1998 is internationally active in the realms of theatre, performance, art in the media and the fine arts as well as sound art. The work of the artists’ group has been shown at various venues including the Ars Electronica, Linz, at the ZKM Karlsruhe and at the Games for Change, New York, experimenting with new narrative forms, in which documentary content and artistic representation are combined. Their multiplayer online game “Frontiers” deals with the situation of refugees on Europe’s borders. Their documentary single player game "From Darkness" takes as its theme the ongoing war in the Congo, East Africa, and questions the way the media disseminate information. Other projects over recent years have been the documentary installation "Local Crisis Machine," the robot-theatre piece "Black Box," the public space dance performance "Area," and the interventionist series "Revolting Bodies" in Athens. "Frontiers" was also screened at the World Of Games at the ZKM Karlsruhe and was invited to the "Games for Change" Festival in New York und to Art Moscow. In 2012, gold extra was awarded the media art prize in Salzburg and the Outstanding Artist Award from the Bundesministerium für Kunst und Kultur (German Federal Ministry for Art and Culture.)
"Totem’s Sound" was created by Karl Zechenter, Georg Hobmeier, Reinhold Bidner Tilmann Hars, Adeline Ducker, Brian Main and Severin Weiser.
Viola König
Director of the Ethnologisches Museum, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, formerly director of the Übersee Museum Bremen, director of the department of ethnology at the Niedersächsisches Landesmuseum Hannover, museum education officer at Rautenstrauch-Joest-Museum/museum service Cologne. Honorary professor at the Freien Universität Berlin and the Universität Bremen, visiting professor Tulane University New Orleans.
Andrea Rostásy
Visual artist and media curator. Since 1995 concept development and realization of medial presentations for commercial projects and exhibitions worldwide.
Monika Zessnik
Curator for American ethnology and communication at the Ethnologisches Museum Berlin. Formerly curator for education at the Staatlichen Museen zu Berlin, director of communcations at the Ibero-American Institute and project coordinator at the Haus der Kulturen der Welt.