was born in 1960 in Oberhausen. With his films, such as Das deutsche Kettensägenmassaker and Terror 2000, his art installations, exhibitions, and actionist projects such as the container action Bitte liebt Österreich! and the establishment of the party CHANCE 2000, he participated in the cultural and political discourse for more than two decades. His themes continually revolved round the question of God, redemption, and the meaning of all art. He created theatre and opera productions, such as Kunst und Gemüse, A. Hipler at Berlin’s Volksbühne, and the ATT-Trilogie at Volksbühne, Vienna’s Burgtheater, and Schauspielhaus Zürich, which received a great deal of attention. High points were his production of Wagner’s Parsifal at Bayreuth (2004-2007) and Der Fliegende Holländer at the legendary opera house of Manaus (2007).
His Fluxus oratorio Eine Kirche der Angst vor dem Fremden in mir had its world premiere as part of the Ruhrtriennale 2009. He was repeatedly invited to Berlin’s Theatertreffen, and he received numerous awards, most recently the Helmut-Käutner-Preis 2010.
He founded the initiative Festspielhaus Afrika; on 8 February 2010, the cornerstone for the world’s first opera village was laid in Burkina Faso, Africa.
With Via Intoleranza II, Schlingensief staged the first tangible piece of the African opera village utopia, together with artists from Europe and Burkina Faso. Following rehearsals in Ouagadougu and Berlin, the piece was performed in Brussels, Hamburg, Vienna and Munich. One of his last proposals was for the installation at the German pavilion for the Venice Biennale in 2011. Christoph Schlingensief died on 21 August 2010, much too young.

Further information at www.schlingensief.com