Based in Berlin/Tallinn.
As a visual artist with a background in choreography and performance, my work examines notions of efficiency and exhaustion, investigating how they shape bodily systems. I create sculptural and installative scenes, often site-specific and performatively activated. With a brutal tenderness these works expose the inner workings of living organisms, buildings and machines, revealing the mechanisms that sustain them or lead to their failure.
In my practice, I collect discarded materials from car workshops, medical and sanitary facilities. Equipment and fluids once used for maintenance and repair purposes—including used engine oil, hoses, pipes, lifting slings, safety belts, canisters, or plastic sheeting—are reassembled or transformed through thermoplastic processes, merging into hybrid systems through which fluids circulate.
Even though these systems appear to be self-sustaining bodies, they rely on regular hands-on maintenance—hacked, not for improvement but to expose its inherent fragility. The slow oozing, dripping, and leaking are expressions of pleasure and resistance. They offer a decelerated, tactile engagement with time and a sensual encounter with toxicity.
Contact: mara.kirchberg@outlook.de
Instagram: @marakirchberg
Don't hesitate to get in touch for my full portfolio, to arrange a studio visit, or for any other inquiries. I'd love to hear from you.
Education
2024
M.A. Contemporary Art • Estonian Academy of Arts, Tallinn
2022
M.A. Choreography and Performance • Justus Liebig University, Institute for Applied Theatre Studies, Gießen
2020
B.A. Applied Theatre Studies • Justus Liebig University, Institute for Applied Theatre Studies, Gießen
2017
Dance Intensive Program (Qualification Programme in Contemporary Dance) • Tanzfabrik Berlin
Stipends, Grants and Awards
2025
Goldrausch Künstlerinnenprojekt • Berlin, GER
2024
Nordic Baltic Young Artist Award, Grand Prix • NOBA Art Platform
2023
Eduard Wiiralt Stipendium • Estonian Ministry of Culture, Tallinn, EST
2023
Residency Stipend • Cultural Endowment of Estonia, Tallinn, EST
2023
Young Sculptor Award, First Prize • Estonian Academy of Arts
2021
Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes • Scholarship Finalist
Residency Grants
2026
ÖRES Art Residency • Örö, FIN
2025
RED HERRING organized by and with work stays in
• Baltic Art Center, Gotland, SWE
• Contemporary Art Archipelago, Seili, FIN
• KORDON Art Residency, Hiiumaa island, EST
2023
Copper Leg Art Residency • Vaskjala, EST
2022
Kanuti Gildi SAAL • Tallinn, EST
2022
TUO, TUO • Joutsa, FIN
2022
ID_Tanzhaus Rhein Main • Frankfurt a.M., GER
Solo Exhibitions
2026
My Weight Hangs in Your Arms • Draakon Gallery, Tallinn, EST
2024
Feeding a Leaky Skin • TASE `24, Tallinn, EST
2024
TEST RUN • Uus Rada Gallery, Tallinn, EST
2022
SWALLOWING A BARBED WIRE • Kanuti Gildi SAAL, Cellar Hall, Tallinn, EST
Selected Group Exhibitions
2026
fight or flight: SEX • Studio 1, Kunstquartier Bethanien, Berlin, GER
2026
Interconnected Gestures • Neun Kelche, Berlin, GER
2025
Up Close - Goldrausch 2025 • Galerie im Körnerpark, Berlin, GER
2025
UNERHÖRT. • Kunstverein Leipzig, GER
2025
Unveiling the Fragments of Reality • Pilot Gallery, Riga, LVA
2024
Resi-Dual • Maa-Tila Project Space, Helsinki, FIN
2023
Links and Loops • K17 - Space for Art and Ecology, Sipoo, FIN
2023
ARTVILNIUS - International Contemporary Art Fair with Uus Rada Gallery • Vilnius, LTU
2023
Pretty Gimmicks, Charming Trinkets, and All the Other Things • Kopli Kiosk, Tallinn, EST
2023
Young Sculptor Award Exhibition • ARS Project Space, Tallinn, EST
2022
After The Giant • TUO TUO, Joutsa, FIN
2022
Artificial Gut Feeling • ID_Tanzhaus Rhein-Main, Frankfurt a.M., GER
Performances
2026
These Arms Could Lift Cars • Neun Kelche, Berlin, GER
2026
Service Hours • Draakon Gallery, Tallinn, EST
2025
Lube, Lust and the Petrosexual Body • KV Leipzig, Leipzig, GER
2025
Service Hours • Galerie im Körnerpark, Berlin, GER
2021
Performance Lecture, Arid Conditions
• Digital Mousonturm, Künstler*innenhaus Mousonturm, Frankfurt a.M., GER
• Re-Connect, Online Performance Festival, Teheran, IRN
• State of the Art 13 - Art Ties, Hildesheim, GER
2020
Performance Lecture, Leaky Bodies • Performance Studies International (PSi) 2020, Crises of Care Conference, Materiality & Corporeality Stream, Rijeka, HRV (cancelled)
2019
Immersive Performance Installation, Leaky Bodies • NAKT Festival, Hamburg, GER
2018
Performance Garten 6 • Kunsthaus Rhenania, Cologne, GER
Scenography
2026
MASC • Vaba Lava, Tallinn, EST
2025
In Recess • Tanzfabrik, Berlin, GER
2024
Gargantua • VAT Teater, Tallinn, EST
2024
FIRESTARTERS • Kanuti Gildi SAAL, Tallinn, EST
2023
Dances to Dream, Res(is)t and Sleep to • Sõltumatu Tantsu Lava, Tallinn, EST
2021
FAKERZ • Sõltumatu Tantsu Lava, Tallinn, EST
Publications
2025
Care Mechanics • published by Goldrausch Künstlerinnenprojekt in conjunction with the exhibition Up Close - Goldrausch 2025
2024
FEEDING A LEAKY SKIN, Artist's publication • self-published
Press
2026
Anita Kodanik: Tema süda pumpab naftat (His Heart Pumps Oil) • Sirp
2026
2025
Christian Titze: “35 Jahre Goldrausch”-Künstlerinnenprojekt • rbb24 Abendschau
2024
Photo reportage from the solo exhibition TEST RUN • Echo Gone Wrong - Baltic Art Press
2023
2023
Mara Kirchberg: Art is a way to approach subjects beyond logical thinking (translated), Interview with Nele Tiidelepp • ERR News
2023
Nele Tiidelepp: Young Sculptor Award Exhibition - Young sculptors show where society hurts the most • Ypsilon Postimees
2022
Photo reportage from the exhibition SWALLOWING A BARBED WIRE • Echo Gone Wrong - Baltic Art Press
2022
A voice separating itself from its human host, Interview with Heneliis Notton • SAAL Performing Arts Magazine
Download
Full portfolio upon request.
Based in Berlin/Tallinn.
As a visual artist with a background in choreography and performance, my work examines notions of efficiency and exhaustion, investigating how they shape bodily systems. I create sculptural and installative scenes, often site-specific and performatively activated. With a brutal tenderness these works expose the inner workings of living organisms, buildings and machines, revealing the mechanisms that sustain them or lead to their failure.
In my practice, I collect discarded materials from car workshops, medical and sanitary facilities. Equipment and fluids once used for maintenance and repair purposes—including used engine oil, hoses, pipes, lifting slings, safety belts, canisters, or plastic sheeting—are reassembled or transformed through thermoplastic processes, merging into hybrid systems through which fluids circulate.
Even though these systems appear to be self-sustaining bodies, they rely on regular hands-on maintenance—hacked, not for improvement but to expose its inherent fragility. The slow oozing, dripping, and leaking are expressions of pleasure and resistance. They offer a decelerated, tactile engagement with time and a sensual encounter with toxicity.
Contact: mara.kirchberg@outlook.de
Instagram: @marakirchberg
Don't hesitate to get in touch for my full portfolio, to arrange a studio visit, or for any other inquiries. I'd love to hear from you.
Education
2024
M.A. Contemporary Art • Estonian Academy of Arts, Tallinn
2022
M.A. Choreography and Performance • Justus Liebig University, Institute for Applied Theatre Studies, Gießen
2020
B.A. Applied Theatre Studies • Justus Liebig University, Institute for Applied Theatre Studies, Gießen
2017
Dance Intensive Program (Qualification Programme in Contemporary Dance) • Tanzfabrik Berlin
Stipends, Grants and Awards
2025
Goldrausch Künstlerinnenprojekt • Berlin, GER
2024
Nordic Baltic Young Artist Award, Grand Prix
2023
Eduard Wiiralt Stipend • Estonian Ministry of Culture, Tallinn, EST
2023
Residency Stipend • Cultural Endowment of Estonia, Tallinn, EST
2023
Young Sculptor Award, First Prize • Estonian Academy of Arts
2021
Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes • Scholarship Finalist
Residency Grants
2026
ÖRES Art Residency • Örö, FIN
2025
RED HERRING organized by and with work stays in
• Baltic Art Center, Gotland, SWE
• Contemporary Art Archipelago, Seili, FIN
• KORDON Art Residency, Hiiumaa island, EST
2023
Copper Leg Art Residency • Vaskjala, EST
2022
Kanuti Gildi SAAL • Tallinn, EST
2022
TUO TUO • Joutsa, FIN
2022
ID_Tanzhaus Rhein Main • Frankfurt a.M., GER
Solo Exhibitions
2026
My Weight Hangs in Your Arms • Draakon Gallery, Tallinn, EST
2024
Feeding a Leaky Skin • TASE `24, Tallinn, EST
2024
TEST RUN 2024 • Uus Rada Gallery, Tallinn, EST
2022
SWALLOWING A BARBED WIRE • Kanuti Gildi SAAL, Cellar Hall, Tallinn, EST
Selected Group Exhibitions
2026
fight or flight: SEX • Studio 1, Kunstquartier Bethanien, Berlin, GER
2026
Interconnected Gestures • Neun Kelche, Berlin, GER
2025
Up Close - Goldrausch 2025 • Galerie im Körnerpark, Berlin, GER
2025
UNERHÖRT. • Kunstverein Leipzig, GER
2025
Unveiling the Fragments of Reality • Pilot Gallery, Riga, LVA
2024
Resi-Dual • Maa-Tila Project Space, Helsinki, FIN
2023
Links and Loops • K17 - Space for Art and Ecology, Sipoo, FIN
2023
ARTVILNIUS - International Contemporary Art Fair with Uus Rada Gallery • Vilnius, LTU
2023
Pretty Gimmicks, Charming Trinkets, and All the Other Things • Kopli Kiosk, Tallinn, EST
2023
Young Sculptor Award Exhibition • ARS Project Space, Tallinn, EST
2022
After The Giant • TUO TUO, Joutsa, FIN
2022
Artificial Gut Feeling • ID_Tanzhaus Rhein-Main, Frankfurt a.M., GER
Performances
2026
These Arms Could Lift Cars • Neun Kelche, Berlin, GER
2026
Service Hours • Draakon Gallery, Tallinn, EST
2025
Lube, Lust and the Petrosexual Body • KV Leipzig, Leipzig, GER
2025
Service Hours • Galerie im Körnerpark, Berlin, GER
2021
Performance Lecture, Arid Conditions
• Digital Mousonturm, Künstler*innenhaus Mousonturm, Frankfurt a.M., GER
• Re-Connect, Online Performance Festival, Teheran, IRN
• State of the Art 13 - Art Ties, Hildesheim, GER
2020
Performance Lecture, Leaky Bodies • Performance Studies International (PSi) 2020, Crises of Care Conference, Materiality & Corporeality Stream, Rijeka, HRV (cancelled)
2019
Immersive Performance Installation, Leaky Bodies • NAKT Festival, Hamburg, GER
2018
Performance Garten 6 • Kunsthaus Rhenania, Cologne, GER
Scenography
2026
MASC • Vaba Lava, Tallinn, EST
2025
In Recess • Tanzfabrik, Berlin, GER
2024
GARGANTUA • VAT Teater, Tallinn, EST
2024
FIRESTARTERS • Kanuti Gildi SAAL, Tallinn, EST
2023
Dances to Dream, Res(is)t and Sleep to • Sõltumatu Tantsu Lava, Tallinn, EST
2021
FAKERZ • Sõltumatu Tantsu Lava, Tallinn, EST
Publications
2025
Care Mechanics • published by Goldrausch Künstlerinnenprojekt in conjunction with the exhibition Up Close - Goldrausch 2025
2024
FEEDING A LEAKY SKIN, Artist's publication • self-published
Press
2026
Anita Kodanik: Tema süda pumpab naftat (His Heart Pumps Oil) • Sirp
2026
2025
Christian Titze: “35 Jahre Goldrausch”-Künstlerinnenprojekt • rbb24 Abendschau
2024
Estonia‘s Mara Kirchberg wins the top Nordic Baltic Young Artist Award • ERR News
2024
Photo reportage from the solo exhibition TEST RUN • Echo Gone Wrong - Baltic Art Press
2023
Sergej Timofejev: Art Vilnius‘23: Art against a backdrop of current news • Arterritory
2023
Mara Kirchberg: Art is a way to approach subjects beyond logical thinking (translated), Interview with Nele Tiidelepp • ERR News
2023
Nele Tiidelepp: Young Sculptor Award Exhibition - Young sculptors show where society hurts the most • Ypsilon Postimees
2022
Photo reportage from the exhibition SWALLOWING A BARBED WIRE • Echo Gone Wrong - Baltic Art Press
2022
A voice separating itself from its human host, Interview with Heneliis Notton • SAAL Performing Arts Magazine
Download
Full portfolio upon request.
© Mara Kirchberg, 2024
© Mara Kirchberg, 2024