Thomas Oberender, born 1966 in Jena, is an author and curator. From 2012-2021 he was artistic and executive director of the Berliner Festspiele / Gropius Bau. He founded 2016 the multi-year formats «Immersion» and 2017 «The New Infinity», which opened planetariums to the work of artists of the digital age. In curatorial teams he designed time-based exhibitions such as «Limits of Knowing», «Welt ohne Aussen», «Down to Earth» at the Gropius Bau and «The Sun Machine Is Coming Down» 2021 at the Berlin ICC. He was previously the theatre director of the Salzburg Festival and co-director of the Schauspielhaus Zurich. He wrote his doctoral thesis on Botho Strauß in 1999 and was co-founder of the authors’ theatre association «Theater neuer Typs» in 1997. He has published plays, reviews and essays on artists and political and aesthetic transformation processes. Work as a consultant for state institutions and individuals.
1995 Frankfurter Autorenpreis and 2000 the German Youth Theatre Price; for my work as curator and head of drama at the Salzburg Festival 2011 the ‘golden city seal’ of the state capital Salzburg and ‘Decoration of honor in gold’ by the state Salzburg. The exhibition «Gropiusbau 2018» by Philippe Parreno was voted «Exhibition of the Year 2018».