Merz Akademie Stuttgart
Teckstraße 58
70190 Stuttgart
Germany
www.merz-akademie.de
Martin Fritz, an independent curator, consultant and writer from Vienna, is the Rector of Merz Akademie, University of Applied Art, Design and Media, Stuttgart, Germany, starting in the winter semester 2016/17. The senate has agreed to the proposal of its non-profit parent organization Merz Bildungswerk. Martin Fritz succeeds Markus Merz, who has led Merz Akademie for 34 years.
Previously Martin Fritz worked as an independent curator, consultant and writer, focusing on context studies, institutional critique, site-specific art and the city, arts management and cultural politics. Hestudied law in Vienna and started his career in the arts as an organizer, curator and production manager for independent projects in theatre, visual arts and film. He was Director of Operations and Director of Program Planning for the re-opening of P.S.1 Contemporary Art Centre (today: MoMA PS1) in New York, Managing Director of In Between, the art project of EXPO 2000 in Hanover and General Co-ordinator of Manifesta 4 – European Biennial of Contemporary Art in Frankfurt (Main). From 2004 to 2009 he was the Director of the Festival of Regions, a biennial for site-specific art and culture in rural regions of Upper Austria. Since April 2016 he is one of the artistic directors of ACTOPOLIS | The Art of Action, a project of Goethe Institute and Urbane Künste Ruhr. He publishes regularly about the contexts of contemporary art production. Among other teaching assignments Martin Fritz was an Adjunct Professor, teaching at Webster University Vienna. More recently he has led workshops at ZHDK Zürich, Leuphana University, Lüneburg, HGB Leipzig and at SAAS (Summer Academy as School) in Prishtina, Kosovo.
“I am extremely pleased that we were able to win Martin Fritz for the rectorship of Merz Akademie. Due to his extended experience in and knowledge of art, culture and the higher education landscape he is supremely qualified to further develop the specific educational profile of Merz Akademie,” explained Markus Merz.
“I would like to thank the members of the senate for their trust and support; I feel honored to be able to work at this renowned institution. At Merz Akademie critical theory meets design, art and media in a productive manner. I am looking forward to working with colleagues and students and meeting the partners of the institution,” Martin Fritz said after the senate’s vote, announcing that he plans to do a lot of “listening” during the first semester of his term. The public handover of office will take place in summer 2017.
Markus Merz, who led Merz Akademie since 1982 as rector and managing director, will focus in the future on the management of Merz Bildungswerk, the non-profit parent organization of Merz Akademie and Merz Schule, kindergarten and boarding schools.
Merz Akademie, a nationally accredited, non-profit University of Applied Art, Design and Media was founded in 1918. With a strong interest in the disciplines of the humanities, social and cultural studies, design, art, and technology, Merz Akademie positions itself between a classical art academy, a technical college, and a department of humanities. It aims to facilitate the professional and academic education of design-authors who are prepared not only to fulfil but to define the requirements of an ever changing professional field.
