11 – Katja Heitmann »PERPETUUM«

Choreographer Katja Heitmann collects and preserves human movement in her Motus Mori archive. Until now, over 2,000 people have already donated their personal movements. In the new artwork “PERPETUUM”, you meet some of the moving ‘movement donors’ in an immersive video environment. Each time, different people from the Motus Mori archive are made visible, life-sized or on a monumental scale. As you get closer, you stand face-to-face with them and hear the stories behind their movements. In a sea of light, your personal movement also becomes visible. For RE.LIGHT 2026, Katja Heitmann is creating a new version featuring people from Regensburg, whose personal movements will be recorded in the archive and can be seen in the light art installation.

Katja Heitmann investigates in her visual-choreographic work what moves humankind in the current era. As a choreographic sculptor, Katja Heitmann is constantly searching for the core of her material. Known for radical concepts and precise forms, she strips her material to its core. Her works display a grand gesture in every detail. Katja Heitmann’s performance installations and exhibitions engage diverse audiences, inviting personal interpretation and emotional response. She received the Dutch Dance Festival Prize in 2016 and the prestigious Gieskes-Strijbis Podium Award, the Netherlands’ most significant performing arts honor, in 2020. She received the ILO Artist Award in 2025 for “PERPETUUM”.