Yasha Young

© Anja Bertram

Yasha Young has been living in New York for more than 10 years where she has an art agency and works as a freelance curator as well as trend scout and celebrity talent handler for the music and film industry. Young is active in underground American youth culture where she discovers young artistic talent and promotes careers. Since 2007 she has also been supporting artistic exchange between Europe and America with the art fund, established by her, which enables the annual funding of worldwide projects and artist’s residences. Yasha Young has published several international books and every two months she writes a Fresh Art column for a German art magazine. She is also an international ambassador for “Keep a Breast”, a breast cancer charity organisation.

Yasha Young founded the Strychnin Gallery in Brooklyn in 1998. This has, meanwhile, developed into a continually growing business with art agencies in Berlin, London and New York. The Berlin branch of the Strychnin Gallery is popular with both the underground and mainstream. Young annually organises more than twelve exhibitions, art fairs and VIP events for the Strychnin Gallery and also founded the Next Level Gallery (www.yashayoung.com) which supports young artists in becoming established in the traditional art market. A further important element of her interdisciplinary work is the networking of the artists represented by her with other creative fields and industry.  

Walter Gehlen

Walter Gehlen is one of the figures behind the ART.FAIR. The economist who is passionate about art founded the Cologne art fair with Andreas Lohaus in 2003 to get particularly a young audience interested in contemporary art.

Under their management, the ART.FAIR developed from a one off show to a major event in Cologne’s “Art Autumn” and the event is, meanwhile, attended by ca. 30,000 visitors each year. Today Walter Gehlen, who lives with his family in Cologne, is the director of the ART.FAIR.

Walter Gehlen was previously the director of the dc duesseldorf contemporary. As a management consultant and internet specialist, he has also learnt to successfully put his ideas into practice with numerous change management projects.

Catharina Cramer

© Warsteiner

Catharina Cramer (33) has travelled extensively during her career. The managing partner of the Warsteiner Group studied at the European Business School in London and was also an intern abroad including in Paris and Madrid. In 2006, before she entered the family business, now managed in the 9th generation, Catharina Cramer gathered considerable experience in the hotel and beverages industry in Germany, the USA, England, France and Argentina.

The juror of the BLOOOM Award by WARSTEINER also has a personal interest in culture in particular in current trends in art, design and branding. Being able to make a contribution, as part of her company’s promotion of culture, to treading new paths in the arts scene and promoting young artistic talent is very important for her.

Joko Winterscheidt

© Stephan Pick

Joko Winterscheidt began his career behind the camera. In 2001 he was an intern at the TV production company MME in Hamburg after which he worked as editor for arte, ZDF and WDR. It was Markus Kavka who eventually brought Joko Winterscheidt to a presenter casting which resulted in his breakthrough with MTV where he successfully presented “MTV Home” with Klaas Heufer-Umlauf for many years. His new programme, “17 Meter” on PRO7, starts in June 2011. Joko is able to prove his eloquency not only on television but also in the worldwide web where from 2007 to 2008 he kept readers updated with his own music column on bild.de which discussed young bands, the current music scene and insider tips from abroad. Joko Winterscheidt is also especially dedicated to the “Rock against child pornography” association of which he is the patron. The association organises concerts, the proceeds of which go to children who have suffered abuse. The presenter is also dedicated to the “Junge Helden” association for organ donation. 

Edo Dijksterhuis

After completing both his tropical landuse and philosophy studies with a master degree and doing a post doctoral degree in journalism, Edo Dijksterhuis began his career as a freelance journalist.

He worked as a managing art editor for the Dutch daily newspaper Het Financieele Dagblad for five years before assuming his current position as director of the Art Amsterdam in 2009. Since then he has been successfully managing the biggest fair for modern and contemporary art in the Netherlands.

Alongside this, Edo Dijksterhuis has also found the time to be a board member of the Cultural Press Agency, the internet magazine Lucifer and, recently, the November Music Festival.