Хубертус фон Амелунксен: философ, суретші және фотосурет зерттеушісінің өмірбаяны

German born (1958) philosopher, art historian, photography critic, professor
Hubertus von Amelunxen (born 29 December 1958, Bad Hindelang, Allgäu) is a philosopher, art historian, editor, curator, photography critic, and professor for philosophy of photography and cultural studies. Amelunxen has authored and published several books focusing on the history and theory of photography and has curated several international exhibitions. He served as president and provost at the European Graduate School, based in Saas Fee, Switzerland, and Valletta, Malta from October 2013 until June 2018.

Hubertus von Amelunxen studied Roman languages, German Studies, and Art History in Marburg and Paris. In Paris he visited the lectures by Michel Foucault at the Collège de France and by Jacques Derrida at the École Normale Supérieure. He obtained his Ph. D. in Roman Studies at the University of Mannheim with the thesis Allegory and Photography. Research on French Literature. Amelunxen started his academic career by lecturing in Basel on time and photography (1991). He became a Visiting Professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz (1991 1992), representing Victor Burgin. In 1995 he obtained a 5 year tenure at the Muthesius Hochschule for Art and Design in Kiel, where he founded the Center for Interdisciplinary Project Studies. Afterwards, in 2000, he taught at the University of Düsseldorf and at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts (Antwerp). In 2001 he became founding director at the International School of New Media in Lübeck, a position he held until 2005. From 2005 to 2009 he served as rector of the École Européenne Supérieure de l'Image (ÉESI) in Angoulême/Poitiers, France. From 2010 to 2013 he served as president of the Hochschule der Bildenden Künste in Braunschweig.

Since 2002 Amelunxen has been a faculty member of the European Graduate School, a private graduate school based in Saas Fee, Switzerland, and Valletta, Malta, which specializes in philosophy, critical thinking and art therapy. In 2006 he obtained the Walter Benjamin Chair at the EGS, specialized in Media Philosophy and Cultural Studies. From October 2013 to July 2018, Amelunxen served as president and provost at the European Graduate School. Under his term, the EGS has expanded to Malta and its programs have gained full European accreditation.

Hubertus von Amelunxen has been the Academic Director of Archivio Conz in Berlin, Germany since 2020. The Archivio Conz brings together Lettrism, Concrete Poetry, and Fluxus in a collection of over 4,000 works including artwork, literature, documents, personal belongings and editions catalysed by the Italian publisher, collector, and also photographer Francesco Conz.

Besides his academic endeavours, Amelunxen has been active as curator and member of artistic organisations. From 2001 until 2007 Amelunxen was a visiting curator at the Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA) in Montréal. During this time, he was responsible for the Tangent series of exhibitions and accompanying publications, which brought "contemporary artists into dialogue with the CCA Collection and [resulted] in newly commissioned works." While at the CCA, he played a role in the acquisition of an important group of works by Gordon Matta Clark. In 2003 Amelunxen was appointed member of the Fine Arts Section of the Akademie der Künste in Berlin. In 2014 he was appointed member of the first Artistic Advisory Board at the Public Art Experience, in Luxembourg. Amelunxen has curated several international exhibitions, working shoulder to shoulder with well known artists such as Cy Twombly, Iannis Xenakis, Dieter Appelt, Peter Weibel, Naoya Hatakeyama, among others. His exhibitions have been shown in different galleries and museums of North America and Europe.

Amelunxen has been active as an editor. He first became member of the editorial board of the Mannheim series of papers Mana Analytika (Média Medusa) in 1987, a position he occupied until 1992. In 1988 he became editor of the well known German magazine on the history of photography Fotogeschichte, which is published in Marburg and Frankfurt am Main. Since 1996, he is a member of the German editorial board of the French series of papers Esthétique, Editions l’Harmattan, a publication based in Paris.

"Cy Twombly. Photographs 1951 2010" at BOZAR PMSK (The Palace of Fine Arts), Brussels (2012); co curated with Cy Twombly. "Kontrolle und Zufall. Iannis Xenakis: Komponist, Architekt, Visionär" in the Akademie der Künste, Berlin (2011); co curated with Sharon Kanach and Angela Lammert. "Notation – Kalkül und Form in den Künsten" at the Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie Karlsruhe, in Karlsruhe (2008, 2009); co curated together with Dieter Appelt and Peter Weibel. "Notabene" at the Villa Oppenheim in Berlin (2008). "Eric Rondepierre. Umkehrungen" at the Villa Oppenheim in Berlin (2008). "Naoya Hatakeyama: Scales" (part of the Tangent series) at the Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA) in Montréal (2007 2008); co curated with Louise Désy. Overall concept for "Peter Greenaway. L’avenir dure longtemps" at the Ecole Européenne Supérieure de l’Image in Poitiers (2007). "Gordon Matta Clark. Moment to Moment: Space" at the Akademie der Künste in Berlin (2013). "Victor Burgin. Voyage to Italy" (part of the Tangent series) at the Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA) in Montréal (2006 2007). "Anthony McCall & Eric Rondepierre. Timeline" at the Galerie Thomas Zander and at the Neues Kunstforum in Cologne (2006). "Dieter Appelt. Cinema Forth Bridge" (part of the Tangent series) at the Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA) in Montréal (2005). "out of the box: price rossi stirling + matta clark" at the Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA) in Montréal (2003 2004); co curated with Mirko Zardini, Mark Wigley, Marco De Michelis, Philip Ursprung and Anthony Vidler. "Tangent Alain Paiement" (part of the Tangent series) at the Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA) in Montréal (2003). "Tomorrow For Ever. Fotografie als Ruine" at the Kunsthalle in Krems and at the Lehmbruck Museum in Duisburg (1999). "Andreas Müller Pohle. Interfaces, Foto und Video 1977–1999" at the Altes Rathaus in Göttingen (1999). "Artfiction. Junge Kunst aus Italien" at the Stadtgalerie im Sophienhof in Kiel (1998); the first of a long series of exhibitions on Italian art in Kiel. "Carol Dallaire. Ça a été: Le territoire en deuil" at the Rencontres Internationales de la Photographie d'Arles, in Arles (1998). "Les lieux du non lieu. L'etat des choses dans la photographie française contemporaine" at the Münchener Stadtmuseum in Munich (1997). "Lewis Baltz & Slavica Perkovic. Stories of Power and Desire" at the Galerie Angelo Falzone in Mannheim (1996). "Photography after Photography", exhibition presented in Munich, Krems, Erlangen, Cottbus, Odense, Winterthur, Helsinki and Philadelphia (1995 1998); commissioned by the Siemens Kulturprogramm. "Der Ton des Raums. Malerei, Skulptur und Photographie" at the Galerie Angelo Falzone in Mannheim (1995). "Die aufgehobene Zeit. Die Erfindung der Photographie durch William Henry Fox Talbot", presented at the Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus in Munich and at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris (1989 1990). "Denis Roche. Un peu plus de lumière" at the mumok in Vienna, the Institut Français of Heidelberg and at the Frankfurter Kunstverein in Frankfurt (1986 1987).

Cinéma, Interactivité, Société / Cinema, Interactivity, Society. First Biennale Figures of Interactivity, Poitiers, France (2008). Workshop Vitra Design Museum, Domaine de Boisbuchet; together with Richard McGuire (2008). Co responsible for the international congress config. art for Documenta 10, Kassel (1997).

Hubertus von Amelunxen married Christine Marx in 1990; they divorced in 2012. They have two sons. Amelunxen lives and works between Berlin, Switzerland and Malta.