Korina Emmerich

Korina Emmerich
Name	Korina Emmerich
Occupation	Writer; Curator; Educator
Birth date	12 June 1984
Birth place	Frankfurt, Germany
Nationality	German
Alma mater	Humboldt University of Berlin; Columbia University
Notable works	The Atlas of Urban Memory; Echoes of Neues; Curating Public Narratives

Korina Emmerich is a German-born writer, curator, and educator known for interdisciplinary work at the intersection of urban studies, contemporary art, and cultural memory. Her projects and publications bridge practical curatorial practice with scholarship that engages with institutions such as the Museum of Modern Art, the Tate Modern, and the Bauhaus Archive. Emmerich has collaborated with a wide range of artists, galleries, and academic centers across Europe and North America.

Early life and education

Emmerich was born in Frankfurt and raised amid the cultural landscapes of Hesse (state), attending secondary school near the Städel Museum and the Goethe House (Frankfurt). She studied art history and anthropology at Humboldt University of Berlin and completed postgraduate studies in curatorial practice at Goldsmiths, University of London and a master’s degree at Columbia University in New York, where she engaged with faculty from the Museum of Modern Art and guest lecturers from the Whitney Museum of American Art. Her educational background included internships at the Deutsches Historisches Museum and the Centre Pompidou, and participation in seminars at the Institute of Contemporary Art (London) and the New Museum.

Career

Emmerich began her professional career organizing exhibitions for independent spaces in Berlin and advising on public programs for the Hamburger Bahnhof. She served as a curatorial fellow at the Serpentine Galleries and later held a curator position at the Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, where she developed partnerships with the Tate Modern, the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, and the Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art. Emmerich has lectured at University College London, Goldsmiths, University of London, Columbia University, and the Freie Universität Berlin, and has been a visiting critic at the Yale School of Art. Her advisory roles include consultancy for the European Cultural Foundation and program design for the British Council and the Goethe-Institut.

Notable works and publications

Emmerich authored the monograph The Atlas of Urban Memory, published after a residency at the Villa Massimo, which mapped artistic interventions across sites associated with the Weimar Republic and postwar reconstruction. Her essay collection Echoes of Neues examined the legacy of the Bauhaus alongside case studies involving the New Museum and the Centre Pompidou, and her curatorial handbook Curating Public Narratives was used in curricula at the Royal College of Art and the Courtauld Institute of Art. She contributed chapters to edited volumes from the MIT Press, the Routledge, and the Princeton University Press, and her articles have appeared in Artforum, Frieze, Cabinet (magazine), and the Journal of Curatorial Studies. Emmerich’s exhibition catalogs for shows at the Haus der Kunst, the Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris, and the Neue Nationalgalerie have been cited in scholarship on contemporary public art.

Style and influences

Emmerich’s curatorial and written style synthesizes archival research with participatory programming influenced by practices associated with the Situationist International, the pedagogical experiments of the Bauhaus, and site-specific work exemplified by artists represented by the Tate Modern and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. Her methodological approach draws on theoretical frameworks from scholars at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science and the European Graduate School, and reflects dialogues with practitioners from the Documenta and the Venice Biennale. Emmerich cites influences ranging from curators at the Museum of Modern Art and critics at The Guardian to historians at the German Historical Institute and artists associated with Fluxus and the Young British Artists.

Awards and recognition

Emmerich has received grants and fellowships from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, the Soros Foundation, and the DAAD. Her exhibitions have been shortlisted for awards by the European Museum of the Year Award committee and recognized by the Art Newspaper and the Turner Prize longlist discussions. She held a research fellowship at the Getty Research Institute and was a recipient of the Prince Claus Fund award for cultural practice. Institutions including the National Endowment for the Arts and the British Academy have funded projects she curated.

Personal life and advocacy

Emmerich lives between Berlin and New York City and is active in networks addressing cultural accessibility that involve the Robin Hood Foundation and the Open Society Foundations. She advocates for preservation projects with partners such as the World Monuments Fund and has worked on community-oriented programs with the European Cultural Foundation and local chapters of the International Council of Museums. Emmerich participates in public debates hosted by the Brookings Institution, the Brooklyn Museum, and the European Cultural Parliament on topics related to heritage, restitution, and inclusive programming.

Category:German curators Category:German writers Category:Living people