The machines are no longer singing

Markus Ambach is the initiator of numerous exhibitions in public space. He studied at the Düsseldorf Art Academy and founded the project platform MAP in 2002, which develops and produces context‑based projects in urban space in cooperation with various partners such as cities, museums, and urban actors. Markus Ambach is part of the initiating group whose concept enabled the Ruhr region to be selected as the host location for Manifesta 2026, the nomadic biennial.

Yannic Han Biao Federer’s novels Pappmaché (2019) and Tao (2022) were published by Suhrkamp Verlag, as was Für immer seh ich dich wieder, an autobiographical narrative that was adapted for radio (NDR 2025) and translated into Dutch under the title Ik zie je overal, voor altijd (Querido 2025). His scholarly essays on political theory, reality television, and (post-)colonial topics have been produced for radio (WDR 2020, SWR 2021 & 2022). The world premiere of his play ASIAWOCHEN opened the 2026 edition of the theatre festival 43. Heidelberger Stückemarkt.

Gürsoy Doğtaş grew up in Germany as the child of so‑called “guest workers.” His practice examines how people with migration backgrounds experience and shape cultural institutions. He explores the shifting meaning of “guest” and how curatorial work can counter exclusion while proposing alternative forms of belonging. Doğtaş has (co‑)curated exhibitions and symposia at institutions such as the Museum für Moderne Kunst Frankfurt, the Marta Herford Museum, and the Taxispalais Innsbruck. His curatorial concept for Manifesta 16 Ruhr includes three venues in Gelsenkirchen.

Sarra El Massaoudi is a journalist, trainer and speaker. As an expert on inclusion, anti-racism and media literacy, she works to promote a more inclusive media and cultural landscape. She is the producer of the podcast series Nos héritages culturels and coordinates a safe space for marginalised women journalists. She also produces the educational podcast Au cœur de la rédac. In September 2024, Sarra El Massaoudi designed and led the guided tour “Raconter et décoloniser 60 ans de vies belgo-marocaines” through Molenbeek, featuring voices of Belgian-Moroccan people of all generations from the podcast Nos héritages.

Holger Herschel studied sociology at the Humboldt University of Berlin and subsequently worked as a research associate at the Bauakademie of the GDR in Berlin. Shortly before the fall of the Wall, he became a photo lab technician and later a photographer at the Maxim Gorki Theater in Berlin. Since 1992, he has been working freelance, primarily in the fields of heritage conservation, architecture, and portraiture. The publication Vergessene Zukunft (Forgotten Future), published in 2025 by Christoph Links Verlag, presents twelve of his photo series that vividly depict the East German transformation period.

Nathalie Muchamad is artist in residence at Jan van Eyck Academie. Her work focuses on the role of the European slave trade in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, and her family history marked by displacement linked to colonisation and contract labour on coffee plantations. She received an honourable mention from the Climavore organisation for the ‘Food Action Award 2025’ for her research project on breadfruit in collaboration with the Food Art Research Network, an international network of artists involved in the political and aesthetic issues of food.

Annette Schuhmann studied History, Southeast and Eastern European History, and Political Science, and completed her PhD on cultural work in state‑socialist industrial enterprises. Her research focuses on the history of industrial labour and its producers in the GDR, the computerisation of work since the 1950s, network structures in East‑Central Europe, visual history, and oral history. Her most recent book, Wir sind anders. Wie die DDR Frauen bis heute prägt (We Are Different. How the GDR Still Shapes Women Today), was published by Hoffmann und Campe in 2025.

Nora Unger works at the intersection of art, architecture, and urban planning, where she develops, realizes, and communicates projects across these fields. She is currently part of the Brussels-based art center Recyclart, where she conceives and oversees programs under the name STADPLURAAL, a format for multidisciplinary exchange on the right to the city and collective practices in urbanism, architecture, and spatial design. Since 2020, she has also been a curator at CURRENT – ART AND URBAN SPACE, where she is, among other things, responsible for the discourse program.

Marente van der Valk artistic practice focusses on projects and events with an emphasis on environmental awareness, community mindedness and the social importance of food as well as the ephemeral and poetic qualities of food and the act of cooking and eating together. Currently, she coordinates the Food Lab at the Jan van Eyck Academie in Maastricht. The Food Lab was created to offer a multidisciplinary platform for chefs and artists interested in food and to explore food as an intersection of culture, identity, politics, physical and mental health, terroir, community, individuality, and poetry.

Younes Zarhoni is a sound and visual artist based in Brussels. Born in Antwerp and of Moroccan descent, he develops his work along two lines: a sonic line, spanning polyphonic vocal installations, explorations of early music, electronic and dance music, field recordings, and a visual line, including drawings, photography, video, and installations. His work draws on medieval mysticism, botany, nightclub culture, and political historiography to map contemporary folklore and diaspora history. It explores the intersections of art history, popular culture, and sound practice.