Christina Steinbrecher-Pfandt (born 1983) is an international art curator and director. She was appointed as CEO of Tech-Diplomacy.org network in March 2023. Before she was the co-founder together with Micha Anthenor Benoliel of Blockchain.art, a digital platform for artists and collectors. She was part of the founding team that rebranded Austria’s biggest contemporary art fair,

viennacontemporary viennacontemporary is an international fair for contemporary art in Vienna, Austria. From 2015 to 2020 it took place annually in the fourth week of September at the Marx Halle, located in St. Marx, a part of Vienna's third district. In 2021, the f ...

Personal life

Christina Steinbrecher was born in Kazakhstan to German-Ukrainian parents, and speaks German, Russian and English, fluently. She moved to Cologne, Germany in 1990 where she attended . She studied international business at

Maastricht University Maastricht University (abbreviated as UM; nl, Universiteit Maastricht) is a public research university in Maastricht, Netherlands. Founded in 1976, it is the second youngest of the thirteen Dutch universities. In 2021, 22,383 students studied at ...

, Netherlands. She wnet on to receive her

Master of Science A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast t ...

Contemporary Art Contemporary art is the art of today, produced in the second half of the 20th century or in the 21st century. Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing world. Their art is a dynamic co ...

from

Sotheby's Institute of Art Sotheby's Institute of Art is a private, for-profit institution of higher education devoted to the study of art and its markets with campuses in London, New York City and online. The institute offers full-time accredited master's degrees as wel ...

in London, where she majored in Moscow Contemporary Arts in the 1990s. She is married to Stefan Oliver Pfandt. Together, they have two daughters.

Career

In 2008, Steinbrecher-Pfandt moved to Moscow, Russia to run Volker Diehl Gallery. Later that year she helped to realize the

Jeremy Deller Jeremy Deller (born 30 March 1966) is an English conceptual, video and installation artist. Much of Deller's work is collaborative; it has a strong political aspect, in the subjects dealt with and also the devaluation of artistic ego through th ...

show ''From One Revolution to Another'', held at

Palais de Tokyo The Palais de Tokyo (''Tokyo Palace'') is a building dedicated to modern and contemporary art, located at 13 avenue du Président-Wilson, facing the Trocadéro, in the 16th arrondissement of Paris. The eastern wing of the building belongs to ...

. That same year, she co-curated the show Laughterlife with Maria Baibakova. In 2009, she became artistic director of Art Moscow Art Fair, heading the fair until 2012. In that time Steinbrecher-Pfandt curated art shows and art directed projects throughout Europe and Russia including, ,

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale (; it, La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation. The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of ...

Moscow Biennale The Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art is one of the most important Russian cultural events and was founded in 2003. First Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art The First Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art (January 28 – February 28, 2005) ca ...

, Artbat Fest, and for the Innovation Prize of the

National Centre for Contemporary Arts The National Center for Contemporary Art (NCCA) (russian: Государственный центр современного искусства) in Moscow, Russia, is a museum, exhibition and research organization which primarily aims its efforts ...

. Between 2012 and 2014, she and Vita Zaman were appointed artistic directors of VIENNAFAIR. Two years later the duo, together with managing director Renger van den Heuvel, helped rebrand VIENNAFAIR as

and moved the annual exhibition to the historic market hall Marx Halle. While fulfilling her duties at viennacontemporary she also curated the 2013 exhibition Rhythm Assignment at the Bonnefantenmuseum. Steinbrecher-Pfandt assumed a leading role at viennacontemporary in 2016, expanding the fair’s international presence. She is credited with sharpening the fair’s profile and for positioning it as the “gateway to the East.” In 2018, Steinbrecher-Pfandt was named “40 under 40” by

Apollo magazine ''Apollo'' is an English-language monthly magazine covering the visual arts of all periods from antiquity to the present day. History and profile ''Apollo'' was founded in 1925, in London. The contemporary ''Apollo'' features a mixture of revie ...

for her role in advancing contemporary art in Vienna. Later that year, she resigned from viennacontemporary and moved to San Francisco to "help bridge the gap between art and tech" with the launch of Blockchain.art. In 2019 she began serving in an advisory role to the festival Ars Electronica. She sits on the boards of the Armenia Art Foundation, the Ural Industrial Biennial of Contemporary Art, Artbat Fest, and CADAF Fair, as well as giving talks about art in the digital age.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Steinbrecher-Pfandt, Christina Maastricht University alumni 1983 births Living people German people of Russian descent German art curators German women curators