As an artist, curator, re-searcher and educator, Julian Rieken works at the intersection of experimental sonic practices, artistic research, and socio-ecological inquiry and action. His practice unfolds through transdisciplinary exhibitions, performative gatherings, and forums that foster ecological empathy and catalyze political imaginaries.
Guided by modes of collaboration, conviviality, and embodied inquiry, he composes resonant environments that explore contemporary urgencies while invoking speculative, counter-hegemonic imaginaries. His artistic language draws from sensory narratives, gentle gestures, and poetic storytelling, interweaving sound, ritual, and spatial installation into resonant ecologies of experience. His work often manifests as experimental radio, performative rituals, and immersive installations that extend the possibilities of curatorial and sonic practice alike.
He is a founding member of SONIC TOMORROW, was the artistic director of the IMPULS Festival and Forum for Contemporary Music Leipzig (FZML) from 2020 to 2024 and curatorial assistant at the Basel Academy of Art and Design from 2012 to 2019. He is the current resident of Residenties in Utrecht, part of the Art Praxis MA at the Dutch Art Institute, Organismo | Art in Applied Critical Ecologies at TBA21–Academy and Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza as well as the Postnatural Independent Program at the Institute for Postnatural Studies in Madrid, Spain.
His artistic and curatorial work has been presented at Academy of Arts Berlin, Basel Academy of Art and Design, Bauhaus Museum Dessau, Botanical Garden Leipzig, Cashmere Radio, European Media Art Festival Osnabrück, Federal Environmental Agency Dessau, Floating University, Gallery for Contemporary Art Leipzig, Gaudeamus Festival Utrecht, Heidelberg Festival, Hyperwerk, IMPULS Festival, John Cage Organ Foundation Halberstadt, MKH Biennial for Contemporary Art, Radio Kapitał, Radio Relativa, Sanatorium of Sound, Struer Tracks Biennial, Techne Sphere Leipzig, University of the Arts Bremen, and others.