SUSE WÄCHTER

(*1969, Sangerhausen) is a puppeteer and director. Since studying at the Ernst Busch Academy of Dramatic Arts in Berlin, she has worked towards the renewal of puppet animation in theatre. She brings her self-made figures to life on major theatre stages, including Thalia Theater Hamburg, the Schaubühne and the Volksbühne in Berlin, the Bavarian State Opera and the Residenztheater in Munich, Schauspiel Köln, Schauspielhaus Zürich, and the Salzburg Festival.

She began making puppets as a child, meanwhile having created more than 100 of them. Some are life-sized, and Suse Wächter needs her entire strength to manipulate them, sometimes assisted by actors, musicians or dancers. The figures range from Sigmund Freud, Karl Marx and Bertolt Brecht to Cate Blanchett. What fascinates her about puppetry? “[…] the magic, […] the chance to fill people with wonder” (quotes from Prenzlauerberg Nachrichten).”

TOBIAS KRUSE

(*1979, Waren an der Müritz)studied graphic design from 1996–2000, worked as graphic artist from 2000–2004. 2005–2009 further studies at the Ostkreuz School of Photography with Ute Mahler, masterclass with Arno Fischer, Berlin. In 2008 he won the NEW YORK PHOTO AWARD in the category Student Editorial Series; 2010 the main prize at F/STOP, the International Photography Festival in Leipzig. From 2009 to 2011 he was head of photography at the Dummy magazine. Member of OSTKREUZ since 2011. 2019 exhibition and publication of MATERIAL in the Robert Morat Gallery, Berlin, published by Kerber Verlag, Bielefeld; 2019/2020 recommended scholarship candidate; exhibition of DEPONIE in the Deichtorhallen Hamburg and in the Photography Forum Frankfurt; 2020 publication of FREUNDSCHAFT (Friendship), together with Jörg Brüggemann, also published in Kerber Verlag.