Curator, Designer, Science Communicator
Based in Munich, Germany
Tanja Seiner works at the intersection of the conceptual investigation of the processes and mechanisms that shape living environments, and the transfer of these findings into tangible spaces and formats like exhibitions and educational programs. Central to her work is the exploration of the transformative potential of design.
She works for cultural institutions like design and science museums, academia, non-profit organisations and enterprises. Her expertise encompasses concept development, design, curating, science communication and teaching.
Subsequent to her diploma in product design from the Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design, Tanja Seiner worked as a senior designer at studio Jerszy Seymour Berlin. Here she conceived products and furniture for industry but soon began to collaborate on conceptual installations for museums amongst which MUDAM Luxembourg, MAK Vienna and Marta Herford (2007–10).
As assistant curator at the municipal art space Lothringer13 Halle in Munich she contributed to the realignment of the institution and collaborated on numerous group exhibitions with local and international artists (2014–2017). Her exhibition »Touch deeper« (Lothringer13 Halle, 2016) investigated how the technological promises of efficiency and control have changed and are changing human behaviour and living environments with works by international designers and artists.
In her first self-initiated exhibition »Pet Market« (erstererster, Berlin 2015) she explored the relationships between humans and their pets from a design perspective. »Creatures Made to Measure – Animals and Contemporary Design« at Museum Marta Herford (2018–19) and Design Museum Gent (2019) took her research into the role of design in human-animal relationships yet further. The accompanying publication was published at Kerber Verlag (»Creatures Made to Measure«, Eds. Design Museum Gent, Marta Herford, Tanja Seiner, 2019).
In 2020, Tanja curated the Pop-Up exhibition “Fungi for Future” at BIOTOPIA Lab in Munich, which highlights the relevance of Fungi in nature and everyday life. In her ongoing collaboration with BIOTOPIA – Naturkundemuseum Bayern, she conceives and curates thematic exhibition areas for the future museum.
Tanja regularly brings her investigations to design and art education. She has taught at the product design department and in interdisciplinary seminars in collaboration with the department of art history and aesthetics at Kunsthochschule Kassel (2010–15), at the cx centre for interdisciplinary studies at the Academy of Fine Arts Munich (2018) and was visiting curator at the Kunst-Transfer-Praxis program of the Academy of Fine Arts Nuernberg (2020).
Tanja Seiner co-founded an collaborated from 2018-21 with UnDesignUnit, a studio that values design as a critical medium in investigating current and emerging developments and uses it as a tool for conceiving education and exhibition formats. She also co-founded the housing cooperative KOOPERATIVE GROSSSTADT which strives to create communal urban spaces in Munich with its building projects.
Contact:
mail⟨at⟩tanjaseiner.de