Manuela Hartel
media & performance artist – Munich, Germany
“I grew up in the countryside. Catholic. An altar girl.
The incense, the echo in the nave, the slow procession – that was my first theatre.
I didn’t understand what was happening, but I felt that something was happening.
There was no art where I came from. No access, no language.
Only an inner urge – and nature.
I studied voice in Vienna, lived as a musician in Ticino, found my way to media art and performance
in Munich – and eventually to opera: a place where sound, body, space, and image merge.
At the same time, I was searching for spiritual experiences – beyond the church.
Through artistic work, a new form of belief opened up: as spiritual presence, not dogma.
In contemporary art, I find little space for spirituality in a Christian context.
Religion is often quoted, deconstructed – rarely sincerely explored.
I’m interested in the in-between. The threshold. The moment that cannot be controlled.
My art is not a statement.
It is a state.
A practice of presence.
Perhaps: a scenic prayer.”
Bio
Manuela Hartel studied Media Art at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich, as well as Voice and Performance at the American Institute in Vienna and the Centro Professione Musica in Milan. Her works have been shown at institutions such as the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich, ZKM Karlsruhe, MUTEK Montreal, MoCA Shanghai, the Venice Biennale, Neues Museum Nürnberg, and Haus der Kunst. She has developed commissioned works for the Bavarian State Opera, Staatsoper Stuttgart, Greek National Opera, Deutsche Oper am Rhein, and the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra.
Her projects range from site-specific soundwalks set in forest landscapes to expansive video mapping and light installations that transform architectural spaces into ritualistic arenas. Her artistic vision centers on crafting embodied experiences that invite transformation and quiet reflection. By blending natural elements with technology and ritualistic motifs, she opens spaces where audiences can encounter fragility, ambiguity, and transcendence. Her work challenges conventional boundaries of medium and genre, emphasizing a holistic, experiential approach that is as much felt as seen or heard.
Her recent projects include a large-scale, performative video mapping for the gardens of Château d’Orion (France, 2024), a collaboration with the Greek National Opera (2024), and the ongoing research-based project RUACH – a transformative exploration of inspiration and creative presence.
Manuela Hartel has worked as an artistic associate at the Academy of Fine Arts Munich and lives and works in Munich and by Lake Starnberg.
Exhibitions and Performances (selection)
2024 Schloss Gleina, Saxony-Anhalt, DE
2024 Château d’Orion, FR
2024 Greek National Opera, GR
2023 Bavarian State Opera / Brainlab, Munich, DE
2023 MOMENTUM, Neues Museum Nürnberg, DE
2022 Chamber Music Biennale, Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich, DE
2022 Munich Philharmonic, Muffathalle, Munich, DE
2022 Gaswerk, Augsburg, DE
2021 Art Competition, Protestant Church of Bavaria, DE
2021 Kestner Gesellschaft, Hanover, DE
2021 Kunstverein Celle, Kunsthalle Wilhelmshaven, Kunstverein Braunschweig, DE
2021 BIBART Biennale, Bari, IT
2021 Kunst hält Wache, Landsberg, DE
2021 Staatsoper Stuttgart, DE
2021 Five Lakes Film Festival, Starnberg, DE
2020 MUTEK Festival, Montreal, CA
2020 Stiftung Kunst und Natur, Nantesbuch, DE
2020 Villa Mussinan, Starnberg, DE
2020 Publication, Deutsche Gesellschaft für christliche Kunst, Munich, DE
2020 Altonaer Theater, Hamburg, DE
2019 Regional Culture Days, Landsberg, DE
2019 ECHOLOT Festival, Schloss Kempfenhausen, DE
2019 AV Experimental, ANALOG ROOM, Dubai, UAE
2019 MACAM Biennale, Beirut, LB
2019 Artwork of the Month, Berg, DE
2018 ETA Hoffmann Theater, Bamberg, DE
2017 Schloss Elmau & Hotel Orania Berlin, DE
2017 Kunsthaus Zofingen, CH
2017 Theatro Technis, Athens, GR
2017 Palazzo Pisani, Venice Biennale, IT
2017 Im Zentrum, German-Czech Festival for Art and Culture, Jeseníky Region, CZ
2016 RODEO Festival, Munich, DE
2016 ECHOLOT Festival, Schloss Kempfenhausen, DE
2016 UNPAINTED lab 3.0, Digital Art Fair, Mixed Munich Arts, DE
2015 Munich Opera Festival, Bavarian State Opera, DE
2014 Bavarian State Ballet, Munich, DE
2013 MandarinArte, Palermo, IT
2012 Cambusateatro, Locarno, CH
2012 Musiktheater im Revier, Gelsenkirchen, DE
2011 Haus der Kunst, Munich, DE
2011 Military History Museum, Dresden, DE
2009 Performance Art Depot, Mainz, DE
2008 Art Museum, Guangzhou, CN
2008 International Summer Academy, Salzburg, AT
2007 Jamart, Mallorca, ES
2006 Museum of Contemporary Art, Shanghai, CN
2005 Film Biennale, Ludwigsburg, DE
2005 ZKM, Karlsruhe, DE
2003 Munich Film Festival, DE
2003 digital/analog Festival, Munich, DE
2003 Museum of Contemporary Art, Skopje, MK
Grants and Awards
2024 Culture Moves Europe
2023 Curt Wills Foundation, Artist Residency, Mallorca
2022 Bavarian State Ministry for Education, Science and the Arts
2022 Stiftung Kunstfonds
2022 XR Hub Bavaria
2022 digital art space Munich
2022 Erwin and Gisela von Steiner Foundation
2021 Art Grant, District of Upper Bavaria
2020 Stiftung Kunst und Natur, Nantesbuch
2019 Protestant Academy of Munich – Church in Bavaria Art Pastoral
2018 INTHEGA Theater Award with theaterlust productions GmbH
2018 Biehler von Dorrer Foundation, Munich
2009–2023 Cultural Funding, City of Munich Department of Arts and Culture
2005 Academy of Fine Arts, Munich
2003 Bavarian State Ministry for Education, Science and the Arts