BIOGRAPHY
Katharina Bayer (b. 1987, Gmunden, Austria) is an artist and filmmaker working at the intersection of architecture, visual art, and experimental cinema. She studied architecture at Graz University of Technology, fine arts at the Zurich University of the Arts and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and film (Expanded Cinema) at the Academy of Fine Arts Leipzig under Clemens von Wedemeyer and Mareike Bernien. Her work has been exhibited internationally, including at the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) in London, Museum Folkwang (Essen), the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen, and the Viennale – Vienna International Film Festival, among others.
ABOUT
My works are an exploration of time, memory, and the ephemeral nature of existence. I am interested in the intersections of history, technology, and cultural memory. Through the media of film and photography, I seek the dialogue between the past and present, the tangible and the intangible. In my works I interweave my interest in architectural ruins and obsolete technologies to examine their influence on the present and to question the construction of history. This results in audiovisual reflections that invite the viewer to examine the subtle details of their living environment. A central aspect of my artistic research approach is the exchange in collaborations.
NEWS
14.10.2025
20th UNDERDOX International Festival for Documentary and Experimental Film (Screening: Resonance)
UNDERDOX Kurzfilmrolle. Werkstattkino: 8:30pm, Munich, Germany
16.10.2025
27th edition of the Festival des Cinémas Différents et Expérimentaux de Paris (Screening: Resonance)
International competition. Le Grand Action cinema: 7pm-9pm, 5 rue des Écoles, Paris 5th, Paris, France
21.10.2025
28th edition of Antimatter [media art] festival (Screening: Resonance)
Deluge Contemporary Art, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
8—16 Nov 2025
Beijing International Short Film Festival (BISFF) (Screening: A Provenance)
International Premiere: International Competition, Beijing, China
SCREENINGS
1—31 August 2025
Labocine — Cinema from the Science New Wave VoD (US) (Screening: Resonance)
August issue
28.5.2025 + 29.5.2025
22.Vienna Shorts — International Short Film Festival (Screening: Resonance)
Austrian Competition: Goes with the Territory, Stadtkino im Künstlerhaus, Vienna, Austria
3.5.2025
71.International Short Film Festival Oberhausen (Screening: A Provenance)
World premiere: German Competition, Lichtburg — Filmpalast, Oberhausen, Germany
28.4.2025 + 2.5.2025
73.Trento Film Festival (Screening: Resonance)
International Competition, Multisala Modena, Trient, Trentino, Italy
09.01.2025
Film Archiv Austria: Metro Kinokulturhaus Vienna (Screening: Resonance)
Metro Kino Kulturhaus: Landvermessung#1, Vienna, Austria
12.11.2024
The Institute of Contemporary Arts ICA London (Screening: Resonance)
International premiere: Yes & No presents Austrian Artist Film: Programme 2, ICA, London, England
28.10.+29.10.2024
Viennale'24 International Film Festival (Screening: Resonance)
World premiere: Filmmuseum Wien: Short Film Program 7 — Vibrations, Vienna, Austria
29.09.2024
Peripheries Experimental Film & Video Festival (Screening: Rocket)
World premiere: Sweet Void Cinema: Cloudwards — Waiting is a Dreaming, Chicago, USA
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2018
In the Wabash Window, SITE Galleries, 37 S Wabash Ave, Chicago, USA
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2024
Dokumentale'24 International Documentary and Media Festival Berlin, Festivalzentrum D'24 Kantstraße, Berlin, Germany
2023
Images of Research, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden SKD, Japanisches Palais, Germany
Sorry, I have to leave, European Media Arts Festival EMAF Campus 2023, Kunstraum Hase 29, Osnabrück, Germany
2022
«Schöne, entrückte Welt», Visarte Zentralschweiz, Kornschütte Luzern, Switzerland
Architekturikonen neu gesehen, Pavillon Le Corbusier, Museum für Gestaltung, Zurich, Switzerland
DSCH I+II, Gewandhaus zu Leipzig, Germany
2021
The Wolf Suschitzky Photography Prize Exhibition - Life in 2020, Austrian Cultural Forum London, England
2020
Common Ground, Salzburger Kunstverein, Austria
2019
Zine in Tokyo, POST Bookstore, Minami-Ebisu Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan
Diplome19, ZHdK Diploma Show, Exhibition Space BKM, Zurich University of the Arts, Switzerland
2018
ZHdK Highlights, Galerie 2, Zurich University of the Arts, Switzerland
The Photographic, UG im Folkwang, Museum Folkwang, Essen, Germany
2016-2017
Schweizweit, S AM Swiss Architecture Museum, Basel, Switzerland
Schweizweit, AIT Architektur Salon, München, Switzerland
Schweizweit, Arc-en-Rêve - Centre d‘architecture de Bordeaux, France
GRANTS / NOMINATIONS
2021
Starting Grant Media Art 2021 and Mentoring Programme 2022, BMKÖS & Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, Austria
Work Scholarship Covid-19 by the City of Zurich
2019
Promotion of Aspiring Artists in Photography by Pro Helvetia Swiss Arts Council
2018
ZHdK Highlights 2018 by Zurich University of the Arts
BOOKS
2021
JapanRevisited202x: then-now-after, Austrian Cultural Forum Tokyo, Japan
(ISBN 978-4-9911767-0-8)
Identität der Architektur, IV. Konstruktion, Beitrag Beitrag von office haratori, office winhov
Verlag: Walther König (ISBN 978-3-96098-883-0)
2020
Swiss Performance 2020, archithese, no.1 (March 1.2020): 46-59, Christina Horisberger, Zeit ist Luxus., Zurich
Verlag: Verein pro archithese (ISBN 978-3-03862-246-8)
2016
Schweizweit, SAM Schweizerisches Architekturmuseum (Hg.), Andreas Ruby, Viviane Ehrensberger, Stéphanie Savio
Verlag: Christoph Merian Verlag (ISBN-13: 978-3-85616-814-8)
ONLINE EXHIBITIONS / PUBLICATIONS
2021
Virtual Exhibition: Wolf Suschitzky Photography Prize 2020 by the Austrian Cultural Forum London
2020
JapanRevisited202x: then-now-after, Austrian Cultural Forum Tokyo, Online Exhibition, accessed September 9, 2020
2019
Photographer Spotlight: Katharina Bayer, Selection by Editors, booooooom,
accessed April 19, 2019
2018
Guest-Room, Selection by Urs Stahel, Der Greif, accessed November 22, 2018
COMMISSIONS
2019-2020
Commission for a Photographic Essay, Verein pro archithese (ed.), Swiss Performance 2020, archithese,
March 1.2020: 46-59, Zurich