MO DIENER (born 8 May 1961, Horgen, Switzerland) lives and workes in Switzerland. She studied Ethnology, Anthropology and Comparative Sciences of Religion at the University of Zurich, and gained an MA in Fine Arts from Zurich University of the Arts in 2014. She was a guest lecturer and tutor at the Bern University of Arts; is the artistic director and curator of the Roma Jam Session art Kollektiv (RJSaK); and is a practicing media and performance artist.

Her family’s genealogy goes back partly to Sinti origins in the early 19th century and partly to Germany. The discovery of her background in 2009 was the beginning for her building up of a body of work titled »History of the Present«. Her practice as a solo artist is based on years-long research in civil, forensic and historical archives, providing the contents for a series of spatial installations displaying materials that haven’t found their way into the historical archives yet. Diener’s artistic practice thus can be placed in the trans-disciplinary conceptual field of critical art and theory.

In 2013, Diener founded the RJSaK with RR Marki (cultural agent) and Milena Petrovic (actress). The first performance of RJSaK took place in Zurich, followed by regular public interventions in art and political contexts. RJSaK aims to transform the status of the Roma population in Swiss and European societies, creating fresh imagery and new associations for contemporary Roma existence as in Dada Roma Esthetika avant-garde. RJSaK claims inclusion while keeping multiplicity and diversity on all levels by liquifying borders between groups, minorities and nations and challenging Roma stereotypes. Their work include »Detox Dance«, 2016, a liquid urban sculpture danced in public spaces, institutions such as universities, museums, contemporary art spaces, expressing an ongoing process of becoming and personal relaxation, as a manifesto for inclusion. She also lead the group’s »GLAM Intervention« in 2014, a Roma Dada avant-garde hijacking of a white cube, followed by a discussion where she argued for museums to support forces that secure a protected space against discriminating structures. The group also participates politically in negotiations with the Swiss Federal Office of Culture (BAK) on the recognition of Roma, Sinti and Yenish communities as cultural minorities in Switzerland.

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2014
Hallo, we live in the 21st Century – Y - Young Talents, A I B I C contemporary art gallery, Zurich
TA TAAA TA-TA TAAA, TATATATATA TAAAAA – MFA Degree Show, Shedhalle Zurich

2016
GLAM Intervention – KunstArchivKunst, Stadtgalerie Bern

PERFORMATIVE INTERVENTIONS

2013
Beyond the Nation (Tableaux (très) vivants) – Shedhalle, Zurich
Guess who is Coming to Dinner (Tableaux (très) vivants) – The Proposal, Zurich

2014
The Longest Day (What Is The Color Of Your Car) – Non-Stop Performances, Kaserne, Zurich

2015
Europa. Die Geschichte der Zukunft (Basic Roma) – Kunsthaus Zurich, Zurich
KunstArchivKunst (Drive In - Drop Out) – PROGR, Bern

2016
ERIF, Becoming Roma - Roma Becomings – Lecture Performance University of Innsbruck
The Air Will Not Deny You (Estetika Walk) – Johann Jacobs Museum, Zurich
Donate To Curate – Parallel Program, Manifesta 11 (Detox Dance), Zurich
On Curating – Parallel Program, Manifesta 11 (Detox Dance), Zurich

ARTISTIC LANGUAGE INTERVENTION
The Air Will Not Deny You. Zürich im Zeichen einer anderen Globalität – RJSaK Romani Editorial, Hg. Daniel Kurjakovic
Franziska Koch, Lea Pfäffli, Zurich 2016

PRIVATE COLLECTION
Kunsthaus Zürich
Sammung Andreas Züst, Kunsthaus Aarau
Rroma Foundation, Zurich

Source: artist, http://romajamsession.org/network/mo-diener-en/