Nicolaus Schafhausen (b. 1965 in Dusseldorf, lives and works in Vienna and Berlin) studied art history in Berlin and Munich. Initially working as an artist himself, he changed positions while searching for new exhibition- and presentation methods and became one of the most influential curators in Germany. Before being appointed director of the Kunsthalle Wien in 2012, he was responsible for the artistic leadership of institutions, such as Künstlerhaus Stuttgart, Frankfurter Kunstverein, Witte de With in Rotterdam. In 2007 and 2009 he curated the German Pavilion for the Venice Biennale. Furthermore, Schafhausen is author of numerous publications on contemporary art.
During a talk with Sandro Droschl, Schafhausen will comment on the video works of Melanie Gilligan presented in the exhibition “The Common Sense Substitution” and discuss issues around the topic of the economic crises and its politics.