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Curriculum vitae Martin Heller (english)
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Born in 1952 near Basel, Martin Heller obtained a teacher’s certificate in art education at the Basel School for Design (1972-76), and proceeded to studying art history and social anthropology at Basel University (1978-85, lic. phil.I 1985). Between 1978 and 1986, he worked in a broad cultural field as an art critic, consultant, essayist and freelance exhibition curator.

From 1986 to 1999, Heller served as the director of the Museum of Design in Zurich, and, from 1997, as well as director of the Bellerive Museum in Zurich. At the same time, he was involved in various exhibitions, publications, juries and teaching assignments related to photography, design and popular culture as well as curatorship and museology both in Switzerland and abroad (Hannover, Hamburg, Bonn, Vienna, Paris, Montreal, Chicago, New York, etc.).

From 1999 to 2003, Martin Heller served as the creative director of the successful Swiss national exhibition Expo.02, an event with more than 40 exhibitions and a rich program of music, theatre and popular culture.

In 2003 Martin Heller founded Heller Enterprises and has since worked as an independent exhibition curator, author and cultural entrepreneur for several projects in Switzerland, Germany and Austria. He was a member of the Board of Directors of Vitra Holding Ltd. (2004-2008). From 2005 to 2010, he was working as a director for Linz 2009 European Capital of Culture. In 2009/2010, Heller curated and produced the exhibition “REALSTADT.Wishes Knocking on Reality’s Doors” in Berlin, on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Development. From 2010 until 2012 he was a member of the Board of Trustees of the Schader Foundation in Darmstadt. He also is a member of the Board of Directors of Meili Peter Architekten AG in Zurich.

Martin Heller is currently responsible for planning the content of the future Humboldt Forum in Berlin. In Berlin as well, he was 2010/2011 involved in the concept development of the International Building Exhibition (IBA) in 2020.

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CV Martin Heller (PDF)