«LIKE BEING AT HOME»

Anna von Siebenthal. Born in 1995. Lives and works in Lucerne and Emmenbrücke/LU. https://annavonsiebenthal.blogspot.com

She grew up in Thurgau and completed her bachelor’s degree in art and education in 2020. In 2021, she received a studio scholarship from the Thurgau Cultural Foundation for a residency in Belgrade, and has been working as a freelancer ever since. She has had the opportunity to participate in various residencies, including the Montemero Residency in Pulpi (ES), the slot_Residenz in Lucerne and the Residenz Ateliers im Alten Schlachthof in Sigmaringen (DE). She has realised performances, solo and group exhibitions in Serbia, Spain, Germany, Hungary and Switzerland. 

„A material or place is explored, flexibilities are tested, moments of change sought, and limits pushed. Performance artist Anna von Siebenthal dances with the material and engages in a dialogue with the space. Drawing inspiration from personal experiences, she tells her stories poetically and emotionally, with surprising twists.” Anna von Siebenthal.

Azad Colemêg. Born in 1988 in Kurdistan/TUR. Currently lives and works in Zurich. https://www.instagram.com/azadcolemerg/

«Azad Colemêrg is an activist and performance artist. In their performances, often in collaboration with other artists. Azad Colemêrg addresses, questions and reconstructs socio-political issues surrounding inclusion and exclusion in a society built on binary and boundary-drawing systems. Cultural and gender identity, experiences of displacement and migration, belonging, solidarity, empathy, connection and difference are among the themes that inspire Azad Colemêrg’s performances. As a Kurdish political refugee, Azad Colemêrg has experienced first-hand the inability to express oneself in one’s own language (Kurdish Kurmanci) and has developed ways to communicate through body language and physical presence.» Eleonora Stassi, curator.

‘Performance is my mother tongue,’ is how Azad Colemêrg describes their own artistic practice.

Elsbeth Carolin Iten. Born in 1967. Lives and works in Lucerne. elsbeth.iten@gmail.com | https://www.instagram.com/elsbethcaroliniten/

Elsbeth Carolin Iten completed a Master’s degree in Art at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts. She studied Islamic Studies, Ethnology and Religious Studies at the Universities of Lucerne and Bern, graduating with a Master’s degree in Cultural Studies. She trained as a nurse and coaches people who want to work in nursing and care at the Red Cross. She worked in Côte d’Ivoire for almost a year and spent several months in South America, among other places. Being on the move is a central aspect of her artistic practice. 

She does photography on commission for the Institute for Religious Studies at the University of Lucerne and for documentaries about performance festivals.

Elsbeth Carolin Iten is interested in themes related to human existence. Starting from the premise that we are all vulnerable, she tells stories about possibilities for encounter and transformation. Her artistic practice encompasses curiosity and empathy as well as photography, video, text and performance. She has participated in several exhibitions and performance events.

She works with artist and curator Maricruz Peñaloza and artist and art educator Kerstin Wittenberg in the collective Las Errantes on wandering territories and bodies, and with philosopher Dr Edwin Egeter at the Silence Institute at the intersection of art, religion and philosophy.

Kollektiv Streunender Hund. They live and work in both  Appenzell Ausserrhoden and Appenzell Innerrhoden. Members: Birgit Widmer, Kappenthuler / Federer, Harlis Schweizer, Maria Nänny, Mirjam Kradolfer, Florian Gugger, Wassili Widmer. https://streunenderhund.ch/kollektiv/

The Streunender Hund collective was founded in December 2018 and has been on the move ever since. It most enjoys visiting different towns and villages in the two cantons of Appenzell. The collective, wild and tame, shy and curious, is only visible for short periods of time and loves to sniff out art and culture, as it puts it itself. Streunende Hund appears up to twice a year. For each project, it invites other cultural creators to join in the fun for a while.

‘As a group, we strive to create temporary spaces in the countryside where art can be discussed and communicated in a site-specific way. Since the exhibition venue is always a crucial part of a project, we select unusual locations to create the desired atmosphere. Places where, in addition to painting and sculpture, the creative energies of the time come together, poetry and poetry readings, musical performances, performances, new media, room installations and a passionate exchange about art and culture take place.“

Mario Espinoza. Born in Venezuela in 1995. Currently lives and works in Zurich.https://sonicmatter.ch

Mario Petrucci Espinoza holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Accademia di Belle Arti, Florence, with a major in painting and a minor in art history (2014–2017). He also studied at the Scuola dell’Arte del Gesto Virgilio Sieni (2016–2017) and the Escuela de Artes Escénicas de Andalucía (2018–2019).

Mario Petrucci Espinoza is a multidisciplinary artist who works primarily in the field of vocal performance and naturalistic visual arts. After training in painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence, he began to explore time-based arts and pursue themes of forgotten memory in folk tradition. He brings his own intimacy and personal processes into the public sphere and often intervenes in public spaces. He has worked in various Swiss institutions such as the Centre d’Art Contemporain de Genève, the Helmhaus, the Fotomuseum Winterthur and the Fondation Beyeler. He has given workshops in various contexts on the use of the voice as a means of expression in performance.

„In my performance practice, as a permanent migrant, I try to connect with cultural universals that exist in every context.This search for home transcends barriers of language, culture, tradition and gender conformity, finding commonalities even in the most hidden aspects of human expression. Yodelling, often associated with certain political groups in German-speaking countries, is in fact a universal practice found in many pastoral cultures around the world, including my native Venezuela. It has survived industrialisation and Christianity and now has to contend with modern capitalism. I explore not only its artistic possibilities, but also its spiritual and community-building potential.’ Mario Espinoza

Neyen Pailamilla. Transplant: Healing in the Mapuche Diaspora through the Pewen. WE ARE AIA | Awareness in Art. Botanical Garden Zurich. Photo: M. Peñaloza ©2025

Neyen Pailamilla. Born in Santiago de Chile in 1988. Currently lives and works in Zurich. www.paulabaezapailamilla.com

Neyen Pailamilla (before Paula Pailamilla) is a queer mapuche artist who works with performance, textile practices and audiovisual formats. Drawing inspiration from their Mapuche identity, they use it as a foundation to reflect on both personal and contextual aspects, delving into historical, political, and social dimensions. They have collaborated with numerous artistic projects and groups both in South America as in Europe such as the artistic collective trop cher to share, historian and curator Jose Cáceres, with whom they initiated the curatorial project School of the Forest, and the Mapuche collective Rangiñtulewfü, which gave birth to the digital magazine Yene. Neyen Pailamilla is a fellow of Eyebeams Democracy Machine Scholarship and has been invited to residencies in Germany and Sweden, the latter at Iaspis International Programme for Visual and Applied Arts in Stockholm. Their work is part of several collections, including the Museum Ludwig in Cologne, Germany, and the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes in Santiago de Chile.

“My artistic work is carried out through performance, audiovisual and textile art, positioning the territory of the body as a place of visibility of a struggle, a conflict, a discomfort. Being Mapuche born in the waria (city) are conditions that build the artistic imaginary of my work, revealing different forms of cultural, political and economic colonization in the territory we live in. In my actions, I create an aesthetic and conceptual juxtaposition between gender, race and class, circum- stances going through my corporal history. In this way, I explore different formats from the posibility of an anticolonial gaze.” Neyen Pailamilla.

Sara Ofelia Sonderegger. Born in Locarno in 1997. She is a Swiss-Argentinian. Lives and works in Locarno with roots in Appenzell/AR. www.instagram.com/sarasonderegger. 

She studied dance at the École-Atelier Rudra Béjart in Lausanne, Switzerland, and the Instituto Superior de Arte del Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, Argentina. After working as a ballet dancer with Ballet de la Provincia de Salta in Argentina for six years, she began developing her career as a freelancer. This has led her to create and collaborate with artists and creatives from many different backgrounds. It has also allowed her to work on productions and performances through which she can express her thoughts on contemporary issues that affect us all, whether personally, socially or politically.

Sara Ofelia Sonderegger has made numerous guest appearances at festivals in Argentina, Bolivia, Mexico, Switzerland and Italy, including. In 2025, she took part in PERFORMANCE DAY ‘Which language do we speak?’, organised by Visarte Ticino and curated by curators from the PANCH-Performance Art Network Switzerland, at Villa Saroli/Lugano. She is a choreographer and producer of numerous performances and dance pieces that have been performed in Switzerland and abroad. For example, WAWA, which she presented in Argentina in 2024, and she was the producer and performer of MOVER LA CASA, performances that were also shown in Argentina.

In 2023, she participated as a dancer in the Rümlingen Festival, ‘Bone of my Bone, Flesh of my Flesh’ by Dana Boric, in Ticino. Performer/residency at La Jungla, CHIKA at the Museum of Fine Arts, Salta, Argentina. 2022 Choreographer of the video dance Ser. Argentina. <2021 THE BLUE HOUR, Mexico. Yunga VideoArte Medicina (performance & choreography), Argentina (2020); video clip Incómoda, Argentina (2020). Worked as a dancer in the contemporary dance company TIPAS. Director: Paula Alderete. Argentina (2019). She has made many guest appearances at festivals in Argentina, Bolivia, Mexico, Switzerland and Italy. Multiple guest dancer at festivals in Argentina, Bolivia, Mexico, Switzerland and Italy. (2017–2024). She has given workshops and courses on movement in Mexico, Switzerland, Italy, Morocco and Argentina (2021–2024). MoviVento, laboratory for movement and voice. Mexico and Switzerland (2022–2023. Yunga VideoArte Medicina (performance & choreography), Argentina (2020); Videoclip Incómoda, Argentina (2020). Brand image for Gotas de Vida, Argentina (2022) and Co.ConAmor, Mexico (2022).

The festival has invited the ‚TEA TIME‘ working group of the PANCH Performance Art Network Switzerland to join them for tea: https://panch.li.

TEA TIME stands for spending time together. It’s an opportunity to meet friends and new people, and chat about performance art, art in general, everyday life, or life in a more general sense. The breaks are intended for that purpose.

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