dieDAS Team

Arne Cornelius

Wasmuth

Founding Director of dieDAS

Arne Cornelius Wasmuth is a historical restoration and preservation expert whose career has spanned work in television, radio, and film production. He is also a published author and lecturer on cultural heritage and related topics. Born in Hamburg and raised in Seoul and Lagos , he earned a B.A. from Columbia University, an M.Sc in International Relations from the London School of Economics, and an M.A. in Strategies for European Cultural Heritage and Preservation from the European University Viadrina in Frankfurt an der Oder. In 2017, together with collector and patron Egidio Marzona, Wasmuth conceived dieDAS.

Tatjana

Sprick

Director of Program and Development

A consummate connector with an incredible eye, Berlin-based Tatjana Sprick has been navigating the boundaries between the creative disciplines for years, facilitating exciting collaborations and new ventures along the way. She began her career as a dressmaker for the Haute Couture before she went on to become a set designer in the film industry, and has since expanded her focus to include fashion, design, craft, and more. Sprick has helped brands and institutions across the creative spectrum—and the globe—develop meaningful products, relationships, and experiences. She was responsible for initiating the design website L’ArcoBaleno and has advised and collaborated with clients such as the Fashion Council Germany, Yohji Yamamoto, Bikini Berlin, Dr Hauschka, Elitis, The DO School, as well as the multipurpose co-retail space ALHAMBRA BERLIN.

Germane

Barnes

Artistic Director

Miami-based Germane Barnes’ award-winning research and design practice investigates the connection between architecture and identity, examining architecture’s social and political agency through historical research and design speculation, with particular focus on the relationship between the built environment and Black domesticity. In addition to his eponymous practice, Barnes is currently an Assistant Professor and the Director of The Community Housing & Identity Lab (CHIL) at the University of Miami School of Architecture, a testing ground for the physical and theoretical investigations of architecture’s social and political resiliency.

Barnes’ work has been presented and supported by several illustrious institutions and organizations, including The Museum of Modern Art NY, San Francisco MoMA, LACMA, Chicago Architecture Biennial, MAS Context, The Graham Foundation, Miami Design District, Design Miami/, and The National Museum of African American History. He is winner of the 2021 Rome Prize in Architecture, the 2021 Harvard Wheelwright Prize, the 2021 Architectural League Prize, and an inaugural grant from Theaster Gates and Prada’s Dorchester Industries Experimental Design Lab.

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Caroline

Rebel

Office Manager Marzona Stiftung

Since early 2022 Caroline Rebel serves as the office manager of the Marzona Stiftung. Rebel, who grew up in Düsseldorf, but long since lives in Berlin, was initially trained as a tailor and moved on to study business administration. She finished her studies with a paper on ecological marketing in the clothing industry. Since then, she has worked in capacities as sales manager, sales director, buyer and office manager for various employers and clients, amongst them Andreas Murkudis, Berlin.

Olga

Durandina

Office Manager dieDAS

Born in Moscow and raised in Vienna, Olga Durandina studied Linguistics and Literature at the Lomonosov Moscow State University before moving to Berlin to study Business Communications Management at the University of Applied Sciences (HTW). Prior to arriving at dieDAS, Olga worked for many years as a freelance translator, interpreter, and film production assistant for Russian and German public service television channels with a focus on cultural programming. She speaks four languages fluently.

Prof. Bettina

Erzgräber

Professor of Drawing and Visual Arts

German artist and educator Bettina Erzgräber has served as Professor of Drawing and Visual Arts at Burg Giebichenstein University of Art and Design in Halle since 2015. From 2016 to 2017, she was the school's Equal Rights Representive; from 2017 to 2022, she held the position of Dean of the University's Design Faculty. In 2022, Erzgräber was appointed Rector of the University. As an artist, Erzgräber has earned numerous honors, including the Salzburg Grant from the city of Mainz, a grant from the Baden-Württemberg Art Foundation, special prize from the Marler Video Art Prize, and a scholarship from the Cité Internationale des Arts Paris of the State of Baden-Württemberg, among others. Her work has been exhibited at prestigious locations both nationally and internationally.

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Egidio

Marzona

Senior Chief Advisor and Patron

Dividing his time between Germany and Italy, Egidio Marzona is an art and design collector and patron, as well as cofounder of dieDAS - Design Akademie Saaleck and the Marzona Stiftung Neue Saalecker Werkstätten. He enabled the acquisition of the former Saalecker Werkstätten for dieDAS.

Marzona was born in Bielefeld to an Italian family. His art collection—widely regarded as the largest, most important 20th-century avant-garde art collection in the world—is now part of the German National Gallery in Berlin. In 2017 his AdA (Archive of the Avant-garde), a collection containing approximately 1.5 million artworks and other objects, was entrusted to the State of Saxony as one of the largest private cultural donations in the history of Germany.

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Andreas

Silbersack

Head of Legal and Financial Affairs

Andreas Silbersack is co-founder of dieDAS - Design Akademie Saaleck and the Marzona Foundation Neue Saalecker Werkstätten and sits on the foundation's board. He lives and works in his birthplace Halle (Saale), Saxony-Anhalt.

In addition to numerous other tasks, Silbersack is active as Honorary President of the Saxony-Anhalt Sports Association. He is also Vice-President of Special Olympics Germany and Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Winzervereinigung Freyburg-Unstrut eG. Together with the collector and patron Egidio Marzona and Arne Cornelius Wasmuth, he founded the Marzona Foundation New Saaleck Workshops and dieDAS - Design Academy Saaleck in 2018.

Oscar

Casas Pinto

Workshop Supervisor

Oscar Casas Pinto joins us each summer for the fellowship program, offering his expertise and support to ensure our busy workshops run smoothly and effectively.

Andrea

Sprick

Cook

During each summer’s fellowship, Andrea Sprick cooks delicious and healthy meals with love for the entire dieDAS team, our fellows, and our guests.