BIRKE VAN MAARTENS

Born in 1989 in Germany and raised in a rural area of the Netherlands, I developed an early sensitivity to nature, space, and social relationships. Driven by a strong curiosity about the world, my observations of people, nature, and social dynamics already found expression in creative forms during my childhood. This artistic engagement continues to shape my work to this day. My practice operates at the intersection of contemporary dance theatre, sound, scenography, and installation-based formats.

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In early childhood I received classical training in violin and explored sound composition as well as classical ballet and flamenco. Later, I studied art and design at the ABKM Academy of Fine Arts Maastricht at the public university Hogeschool ZUYD in the Netherlands. 

 

With a growing interest in the performing arts, my focus of life and work shifted toward performance in 2013. I completed further training in dance pedagogy in the program Tanzpädagogische Kompetenz at the educational institution SENECA Intensiv in Berlin. This was complemented by studies at ETAGE – School for Performing and Visual Arts as well as at the Danceworks Academy for Contemporary Dance Berlin. Over several years I deepened my training in contemporary and modern dance there and later continued my studies in dance and choreography at SEAD – Salzburg Experimental Academy of Dance.

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In my work, I combine performance, sound, and spatial design to create multilayered experiential environments in which physical, visual, and acoustic levels influence one another.

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In 2021 I developed the artistic research project AI FOREST, which was presented at the Ars Electronica Festival. The immersive installation was created in collaboration with the LIT – Linz Institute of Technology during a residency at the LIT Robopsychology Lab at Johannes Kepler University Linz. The residency was supported by the Province of Upper Austria and the Austrian Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research as part of Ars Electronica. In 2022, this was followed by a residency at the choreographic center SQFARM – fallbach art research movement within the program Emerging Choreographic Talents.

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Since 2023 I have been a board member of the association SQFARM and, together with artistic director Susan Quinn, curate the residency program for emerging artists. Alongside my artistic practice, my work also includes publishing and cultural organizational activities, highlighting my ability to contextualize and realize my own artistic concepts in a focused and professional way.

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Since March 2026, alongside my artistic practice, I have been part of the artistic and cultural co-direction at Holzmarkt in Berlin. There I work on establishing a low-threshold production and development space for projects in the independent performing arts — particularly dance, theatre, and performance—as well as on expanding the cultural infrastructure of the site.

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The aim of my artistic practice is to create a dialogical space between these disciplines in which visual, acoustic, and physical elements interact on equal terms. In my projects, light and sound installations are not used solely as design elements but are understood as integral components of the choreography. In this way, the boundaries between scenography, object, and performative body shift, creating multilayered experiential spaces that open up diverse levels of perception and interpretation.