Clima Now Spotlight 2022: Rethinking the Impact of Art - Climate ARTivists Wanted!

Lori Spector is Regional Director for Switzerland at auction house Phillips. Prior, she worked as a private art advisor and dealer living between Zurich and New York, specialising in 20th century and contemporary art. Lori spent the early part of her career in the Impressionist and Modern Art Department at Christie’s New York. She then moved to Phillips in 2000 first as a Specialist and later a Senior Director before becoming its Regional Director in 2019. In 2004, Lori established Lori Spector Fine Art, Inc. (LSFA) where she advises international clients and is a member of various museum associations.

Gesa Schneider has been director of the Literaturhaus Zürich since 2013. From 2015 to 2018 she was co-director of the Museum Strauhof. After completing her PhD on Kafka and photography, she was project manager at Heller Enterprises from 2006 to 2013 and lecturer in image theory at F+F Zurich from 2008 to 2013.

She prefers to deal with questions around the representation of the present in word and image - or dreams of alternative life models on distant planets that could be reached via wormholes.

Picture by Ayse Yavas

Hayat Erdoğan is a lecturer, dramaturge and curator. She works as a freelance curator, including at Cabaret Voltaire, and as an author. In 2015, she began doctoral studies in philosophy with Prof. Dr. Robert Pfaller. Since the 2019/20 season, she has been co-director and dramaturg at Theater Neumarkt. Since she is lecturer 2010 at the Zurich University of the Arts. She was a research fellow of the James Joyce Foundation in Zurich and Trieste, worked as an interpreter and translator, led artistic, research projects between London and Hong Kong and was a commission member of, among others, the Theaterförderung Stadt Zürich.

Picture by Flavio Karrer

Dorothea Strauss is a curator and transformation expert. She has been working on the subject of art as an incubator for social change processes since the mid-1990s. After managing various institutions in Germany and Switzerland, such as Haus Konstruktiv in Zurich, she established a department for social and future engagement at the cooperative Mobiliar insurance company. In 2013, she launched the «Art & Sustainability» exhibition series there, among other things.

In 1970, as an exchange student in the USA, Martin Meili took part on the first Earth Day and was already confronted with the problems of climate change and the "point of no return". With his commitment to Clima Now, he wants to ensure that suitable solutions are finally promoted, and proper measures are taken.

Franziska Heidenreich was a member of the executive board of the myclimate foundation and head of carbon offset projects for more than 10 years and now builds programs for bilateral carbon offset for myclimate. Franziska has been active in the green start-up scene for a long time - including as a long-time jury member for Greenstart, the accelerator program from the Austrian Climate and Energy Fund. She holds a bachelor's degree in International Relations, a master's degree in Environmental Science, and a postgraduate degree in Development Policy.

Li Zhenhua has been active in the artistic field since 1996, his practice mainly concerning curation, art creation, and project management. Since 2010 he has been the nominator for the Summer Academy at the Zentrum Paul Klee Bern (Switzerland), as well as for The Prix Pictet (Switzerland). Since 2013, he has curated the film sector of Art Basel Hong Kong. Li is a member, consultant and producer of international art and film projects. He lives in Zurich and Shanghai.

Picture by Jack Zhang