Nice to meet you…

Verena Niepel lachend

I am an artist and educated as an interdisciplinary researcher (politics and art) based in Germany. Currently I am developing a new focus on organisational development and project management in the field of human resources. I follow this career path working at the BAMF as a recruiter.  My interest in issues of belonging or rather non-belonging, which I consider to be a feeling characteristic for our time, is put into practice in my Job. While I am eager to explore my new pathway I give space to my creativity by showing the topic of belonging in form of oil paintings and drawings in an exhibition planned for March 2025 at the Kreuz+Quer in erlangen.

I examined this topic in depth in my thesis (2019-2024) that focuses on visual artists from Turkey who aim at building a new base in Berlin. In their works they explore a liminal space between belonging to a ‚Turkish community‘ or an independent art scene and established, more institutionalized cultural spaces. I shared my knowledge as a teacher at Newcastle University, in workshops that I initiated, as a speaker at conferences and as a speaker of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion issues at the department for media-culture-heritage at NCU. Since 2020 I am a member of the working group ‚Kunst-Migration‘ where I help building an international network and creating more awareness for artists who work while being on the move. I received a Northern Bridge DTP/AHCR, a teaching fellowship (FHEA) and am currently holder of a post-submission bursary by the Doctoral College (UK).

Since 2023 I am working on artworks to be exhibited that engage with non-belonging more creatively. My oil paintings that I share in the section ‚painting‘ on this website express my personal non-belonging to places and social spaces.

I conduct my research in German, English, Turkish and French. For a selection of publications please look at the bio section of this website or on torial for my journalistic contributions. My unfinished texts are published here.