christi knak tschaikowskaja, born 1990 in Karaganda, is a multi-media-artist, film director and lawyer. Christi works with the medium of performance art as a creating medium of “living spaces”. On their filmic projects, christi applies methods from performance art: The work is experimental in that conditions are created in advance under which the acting can flow naturally. Often their actors are biographical.
christi studied art at the Academy of Media Arts in Cologne and at Kunstakademie Duesseldorf. They studied law at the University of Cologne and Sorbonne Paris 1.
2022 christi took over the film direction in a dance piece by the company “merighi I mercy”, created the film “Yellow” in Douz, Tunesia and shown the performance “EXIT GENDER the performance” in “Kunsthafen Cologne”. 2021 christi showed the performance “the manifold gender” at the Kunsthalle Duesseldorf. Since 2022, christi has been working as an artistic assistant at the kaethe:k Kunsthaus and is currently dealing with ableist structures in our society. Most recently, christi directed the opera-dance performance “creature freedom as utopia – ark” involving 21 people, which was shown at the Malkasten Kunstverein Duesseldorf.
Selection of exhibitions
Solo exhibitions
2023: ‘creature freedom as utopia – arkʻ, opera performance, conception, direction and performance, Malkasten Kunstverein Duesseldorf, Labor am Ebertplatz Cologne, Bauturmtheater Cologne
2022: ‘creature freedom as utopiaʻ, opera performance, concept, direction and performance, Hosek Contemporary, Berlin
2022: ‘EXIT GENDER the performanceʻ, performance, Kunsthafen Cologne
2021: Queer fashion show ‘the manifold genderʻ, performance and costume, Kunsthalle, Duesseldorf
2022: ‘Bodies of Waterʻ, ‘Solid Liquidʻ and ‘Wetlandʻ, stage design for the dance production by Katharina Senzenberger, Tanzhaus NRW Duesseldorf
2022: ‘Yellowʻ, short film, Douz, Tunisia; director, screenplay and editor
2021: ‘studies on the universalism. modelesʻ, solo exhibition at the gallery “Gold und Beton”, Cologne
2021: ’empathic approach – what stands between a subaltern and her true voiceʻ, dance performance film, direction, installation, choreography, costume, editing, Sommerblutfestival, Cologne
Group exhibitions
2022 until today: Paintings on the freedom of the creature, ‘creature freedomʻ, the freedom of living beings other than humans, exhibition at the Kunstakademie Duesseldorf during “rundgang” 2023 and 2024
2022: ‘solo for fiveʻ, dance film for the company merighi I mercy, director, TanzStation Barmer Bahnhof, Wuppertal
2019: ‘studies on the universalism. 1. study. failʻ, performance, Overstolzenhaus, Academy of Media Arts, Cologne