Michael Schindhelm

Michael Schindhelm (born October 1, 1960 in Eisenach, Thuringia) is a German writer, culture manager, and theater director.

Michael Schindhelm in Long Island/USA 2008

Biography

Academic studies

Michael Schindhelm grew up in the former GDR and completed his Abitur with an emphasis on chemistry. He studied at the Voronezh State University in the former USSR graduating with a master degree in quantum chemistry. From 1984 to 1986 he started his work as assistant professor for the "Zentralinstitut für physikalische Chemie" of the East Berlin Academy of Science where he worked in the department of theoretical chemistry (director: Lutz Zülicke) along with the current German chancellor Angela Merkel. He then worked as translator, author, and dramatic advisor until 1990.

Theater

In 1990, Schindhelm became advisor to the theater manager in Nordhausen, and then director of the Theater Nordhausen Loh-Orchester Sondershausen Foundation. In 1992 he was appointed theatre director in Gera. From 1994 to 1996 he was founding Director General of the theater and opera house Theater & Philharmonie Thueringen in Gera and Altenburg. From 1996 to 2006 he acted as director of the Theater Basel (Switzerland), performing opera, drama, and ballet. Theater Basel was “theatre of the year 1999” in the German-speaking countries and received the Bavarian Theatre Award in the same year and in 2001. From 1997 to 2005 he served also as president of the symphonic orchestra Sinfonieorchester Basel. In April 2005 he was appointed general director of the Opernstiftung (opera foundation) in Berlin. He acted as the first Director General of the newly founded Opernstiftung Berlin comprising Berlin's three opera houses (Komische Oper Berlin, Staatsoper Unter den Linden, Deutsche Oper Berlin).

Literature/Film

Michael Schindhelm continues to work as novelist, librettist, film documentarist and translator (Russian/German). Since 2000 he published six books (fiction and non-fiction). His latest work "Dubai Speed" has been published in German (dtv, 2009) and under the title Dubai High in English (Arabian Publishing, 2011). He wrote the opera libretto to Klaus Huber's Schwarzerde (Basel, 2001) on the Russian poet Osip Mandelstam and to Cong Su's Welten in Quecksilberlicht (Berlin, 2006) about the Chinese poet Gu Cheng. In 2003 he filmed the documentary “Lied von der Steppe“ in the Gobi Desert in collaboration with Jörg Jeshel. From 2003 to 2008 he created the film “Birds Nest“ on the making of the Beijing National Stadium in collaboration with Christoph Schaub.^[1] In 2003 Schindhelm appeared as a TV anchorman and as a host in the Swiss German TV talk show “Der Salon”. He has translated works by Gogol, Chekhov and Mandelstam into German.

Cultural management

Schindhelm started working in Dubai in March 2007, and one year later he was appointed cultural director of the Dubai Culture and Arts Authority. His work there focused on the "Khor Dubai" project - the development of cultural infrastructure with museums and theaters along the creek.

He left Dubai in 2009 and started acting as cultural advisor to public organizations in Asia and Europe. Since 2009 he consults the Dutch architectural office OMA on the master plan for the large-scale development West Kowloon Cultural District, Hong Kong.^[2] In 2010 he collaborated with the think tank AMO on the conceptualization of the educational program for Strelka Institute, Moscow. Currently, he works there as professor for the subject of public space.^[3] Since 2010 he is also involved in the creation of a think tank for global culture at Zurich University for the Arts. Furthermore, in 2010 he started a collaboration on global philanthropy with the German charity organization Welthungerhilfe.^[4]

References

1. ^ Michael Schindhelm filmography on IMDb
2. ^ http://www.openbuildings.com/west-kowloon-cultural-district-profile-3082.html description master plan West Kowloon Cultural District, Hong Kong, September 2010
3. ^ http://www.strelkainstitute.com/en/blog/918 website Strelka Institute, interview on public space, Moscow, November 2010
4. ^ http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,722922,00.html Der Spiegel, Travels in a Quiet Land (North Korea), October 2010

External links

• [1], website to Dubai Speed, dtv, November 2009
• [2], Foreign Policy, Washington, March/April 2010
• The Real Drama of Berlin Opera, Deutsche Welle, November 25, 2004
• "Berlin ist pubertär" Interview with Michael Schindhelm, Der Spiegel, April 2, 2007 (in German).
• List of works by Michael Schindhelm in the German National Library (Deutschen Nationalbibliothek).
• Michael Schindhelm filmography on IMDb
• [3], Der Spiegel, Travels in a Quiet Land (North Korea), October 2010.
• New director of culture named in Dubai, UPI, April 16, 2008.
• Dubai Culture & Arts Authority
• [4], website Strelka Institute, interview on public space, Moscow, November 2010
• [5], description master plan West Kowloon Cultural District, Hong Kong, September 2010.

Persondata
Name	Schindhelm, Michael
Alternative names
Short description	German writer, cultural advisor, theatre and opera director
Date of birth	October 1, 1960
Place of birth	Eisenach
Date of death
Place of death