Rahraw Omarzad is an artist, independent curator, writer, and professor from Kabul, Afghanistan, working mainly with video and photography. He has taught Fine Arts at the University of Kabul for 20 years, before having to leave the country due to the assumption of power by the Taliban in 2021. In his broad range of cultural activities, Omarzad is committed to socio-political topics: He founded the CCAA Center for Contemporary Art Afghanistan including the Women’s Center for the Arts, which is dedicated to teaching and promoting the advancement and empowerment of Afghan women artists and is also the founder of the Afghan art magazine, Gahnama and Hunar, amongst others. His artistic work focuses on the portraiture and reflection of Afghan society. Existing in the interspace between politics, war, and personal life, Omarzads artistic and cultural activities have expressed a deep strength of resistance against inequalities, war as a political tool and an advocacy for peace, justice, and an open and democratic society.
Rahraw Omarzad’s video works have been exhibited worldwide, including Documenta 13, Kassel, and Tate Britain, London, 9. International Istanbul Biennial. His work can also be found in the permanent collection of the Asia Society Museum, New York. He received an IFA Scholarship in Germany 2006 and the CEC ArtsLink Projects Award in Washington D.C. 2012. He is also a member of AFI Art Film International curators, Whitechapel Gallery, London, and IKT International Association of Curators of Contemporary Art. He holds Fine Art degrees from the Kabul University and The Oslo National Academy of Fine Arts. Omarzad’s current academic and curatorial involvement besides Städelschule includes work with the Castello di Rivoli contemporary art Museum, as well as the Accademia Albertina Art Academy, both in Turin.
Professors

Monika Baer
Fine Arts
Daniel Birnbaum
Philosophy and Art Education
Gerard Byrne
Film, Vice-Rector
Barbara Clausen
Curatorial Studies, Rector
Benjamin Foerster-Baldenius
Cohabitation
Isabelle Graw
Art History and Art Theory
Judith Hopf
Fine Arts
Hassan Khan
Fine Arts
Philippe Pirotte
Art History and Curatorial Studies
Tobias Rehberger
Sculpture
Willem de Rooij
Fine Arts
Haegue Yang
Fine ArtsGuest
Professors

Mahret Ifeoma Kupka

Ghislaine Leung
Research Fellow

Gürsoy Doğtaş
Winter Semester 2024/25–Summer Semester 2025: QuiS Visiting Research FellowPast Faculty

Éric Baudelaire
Summer Semester 2023 and Summer Semester 2024: Guest Professor for Fine Arts
Hannah Black
Winter Semester 2021/22: Guest Professor for Fine Arts
Tania Bruguera
Summer Semester 2021: Guest Professor for Fine Arts
Francisco Camacho Herrera
Summer Semester 2023: Guest Professor for Fine Arts
Barbara Casavecchia
Winter Semester 2023/24–Summer Semester 2024: QuiS Visiting Research Fellow
Keren Cytter
Summer Semester 2022: Guest Professor for Fine Arts
Clémentine Deliss
Winter Semester 2022/23: Guest Professor for Art History and Curatorial Studies
Loretta Fahrenholz
Winter Semester 2023/24: Guest Professor for Fine Arts
Cyprien Gaillard
Winter Semester 2020/21: Guest Professor for Fine Arts
Ayşe Güleç
Winter Semester 2021/22–Summer Semester 2022: Research Fellow
Flaka Haliti
Summer Semester 2024: Guest Professor for Fine Arts
Omar Kasmani
Winter Semester 2022/23–Summer Semester 2023: Guest Professor for Fine Arts
Kasper König
Rector 1989–2000, Honorary Professor 2001–2024
Vera Mey
Summer Semester 2023: Guest Professor for Curatorial Studies and Art History
Jenny Nachtigall
Summer Semester 2019–Winter Semester 2020/21: Guest Professor for Art Theory
Ruth Noack
Summer Semester 2023: Guest Professor for Curatorial Studies and Art History
Camille Norment
Summer Semester 2024: Guest Professor for Fine Arts
Ima-Abasi Okon
Winter Semester 2023/24: Guest Professor for Fine Arts
Henrik Olesen
Summer Semester 2024: Guest Professor for Fine Arts
Rahraw Omarzad
Summer Semester 2022: Guest Professor for Fine Arts (Gasthof)
Nira Pereg
Summer Semester 2024: Guest Professor for Fine Arts
Walid Raad
Summer Semester 2022: Visiting Artist
Yasmil Raymond
Sommer Semester 2020-Sommer Semester 2024: Professor for Curatorial Studies, Rector
Asad Raza
Winter Semester 2022/23: Guest Professor for Fine Arts
Slavs and Tatars
Summer Semester 2023: Guest Professors for Fine Arts
Monika Szewczyk
Winter Semester 2022/23–Summer Semester 2023: Research Fellow
Sung Tieu
Winter Semester 2021/22: Guest Professor for Fine Arts
Helena Uambembe
Winter Semester 2023/24: Visiting Artist / Fine ArtsHonorary
Professors

Christa Näher
Fine Arts