Members
The members of the Sorbian Artists’ Association (Sorbischer Künstlerbund e.V.) embody the diversity of Sorbian art. Working across a wide range of genres, they create, connect and strengthen the cultural life of the Sorbian people.
Liana Bertók
Musician, Composer
Originally from Romania, the pianist and composer Liana Bertók came to the GDR in 1981 and first encountered Sorbian music at the Sorbian National Ensemble in Bautzen. As early as 1982, she was admitted to the Working Group of Sorbian Musicians (later the Sorbian Artists’ Association).
She acquired an extensive Sorbian repertoire, premiered numerous new works by Sorbian composers and, in recognition of this commitment, received the Domowina Prize in 2009. Since the 1990s, she has composed her own works on Sorbian themes; her oeuvre includes songs, chamber music, ballet music as well as symphonic and vocal-symphonic compositions.
By taking over the ENA Music Publishing House, she assumed a further substantial role in popularising Sorbian music – a task that has significantly shaped her life’s work. In 2023, she directed the performance of the opera buffa Jakub a Kata by Korla Awgust Kocor.
Jan Bělk | Jan Bilk
Composer, Musician, Producer
Jan Bělk | Bilk is a musician, composer and producer known for electronic music, radio play and film scores, as well as large-scale multimedia projects. He is also recognised for video productions based on Sorbian literature, which he presents on the YouTube channel serbskiTV. After studying at the Hanns Eisler School of Music Berlin, he established the subject area Synthesiser and Electronic Music there. International concert projects and commissioned works mark his wide-ranging artistic output. Bilk is Chair of the Sorbian Artists’ Association, recipient of the Special Prize for Radio Play Music from the Radio of the GDR, and a laureate of the Domowina Prize.
Jan Cyž | Johannes Ziesche
Composer, Musician
Jan Cyž is a composer and singer, trained at the Sorbian National Ensemble and later at the Carl Maria von Weber University of Music Dresden. His compositional work is strongly influenced by the Second Viennese School and focuses particularly on chamber music forms. His work is characterised by unusual instrumental combinations, a clear sense of sound and a pronounced preference for short, aphoristic forms.
Carolina Eyck
Composer and Musician
Carolina Eyck is a composer, musician and one of the world’s leading theremin virtuosos. Through her innovative compositions, international concert appearances and cross-genre projects, she has shaped the contemporary music landscape for years and expanded the expressive possibilities of her instrument in a unique way. She is a prizewinner of the RBB Composition Competition and the ECHO Klassik Award.
Daniela Haase
Singer, Music Educator
Since completing her diploma in voice and music education at the Carl Maria von Weber University of Music Dresden, Daniela Haase has worked internationally as a freelance artist. The focus of her singing career lies in oratorios, cantatas and masses from the 16th to the 21st centuries. Important artistic impulses have come from, among others, Markus Creed, H.-Ch. Rademann, Prof. Ludwig Güttler, Simon Halsey, Marek Janowski and Sir Simon Rattle.
The soprano has performed in selected ensembles in collaboration with the Berlin Philharmonic, Lautten Compagney Berlin, Virtuosi Saxoniae, Elbland Philharmonie Sachsen, the Saxon State Orchestra Dresden, the Dresden Cathedral Choir Boys, the Dresden Kreuzchor, MDR Radio Choir Leipzig, the Rundfunkchor Berlin and the RIAS Chamber Choir. She has been a soloist in numerous Sorbian oratorio and chamber music performances. Since 2008, she has taught voice, including as a guest lecturer at the Dresden University of Church Music.
Syman Hejduška | Simon Heiduschka
Musician, Composer, Dramaturge, Cultural Manager
Born in 1996, Syman Hejduška studied music education in Dresden, followed by music production in Nashville (USA), and in 2023 obtained a certificate as a sound engineer at SONIC Audio School in Chemnitz. Since 2025, he has been studying Cultural and Media Management at the University of Music and Theatre Hamburg.
Alongside this, he works as a dramaturge at the Sorbian National Ensemble, is music editor at MDR’s Sorbian broadcasting service, and works freelance as a musician, including with the Popsorben and in the hip-hop project Nowa Doba, as well as solo as a pianist and composer. He has also taken on artistic and organisational direction of concerts, festivals and gala events. In 2021, he received the Domowina Young Talent Award.
© Frauke Spangenberg
Walburga Wałdźic | Walburga Walde
Singer, Composer, Choral Director
Walburga Wałdźic is a Sorbian singer who studied jazz vocals and choral conducting at the Carl Maria von Weber University of Music Dresden.
She sets Sorbian poetry to music and creates new arrangements of Sorbian folk songs, which she performs in various formations. In a duo with the Polish violinist Izabela Kałduńska, she has released a new album based on poems by Mina Witkojc. She founded the Sorbian women’s ensemble Jarobinka, which presents Sorbian songs in contemporary interpretations. The ensemble’s current programme is dedicated to songs from Sorbian-speaking villages in Lusatia that have disappeared or are under threat due to lignite mining.
The music of both ensembles was recorded for the documentary about the Sorbs “Pola nas rěka wona Hanka / Pla nas gronje jej Hanka / Bei uns heißt sie Hanka” (directed by Grit Lemke, 2023).
Peter Wittig
Director, Composer
Peter Wittig is a director and composer. Among other works, he wrote the music theatre piece about Maria Grollmus, Maria. Füße auf weitem Raum, staged the world premiere of Detlef Kobjela’s chamber opera Wudowa z Ephesosa, and is the librettist of Kobjela’s Sreewaldoperette. He collaborates with the Sorbian pianist Heidemarie Wiesner.
Painting / Graphic Art / Sculpture
© Carla Pohl / Bildkomplizin
Maja Nagelowa | Maja Nagel
Painter, Graphic Artist, Filmmaker
In the work of Maja Nagelowa, painting, graphic art and film combine to form compelling creative expressions. Starting from drawing, she works across a wide range of artistic fields.
She regularly exhibits and participates in exhibitions in Germany and abroad, produces animated and documentary films, collaborates on various art projects and also realises installations and performances.
Měrka Pawlikowa | Mirka Pawlik
Painter
After completing her Abitur at the Sorbian Extended Secondary School in Bautzen, Měrka Pawlikowa studied horticulture at Humboldt University Berlin. This was followed by studies at the Berlin University of the Arts (master student of Prof. Katharina Grosse). Since 2002, she has worked as a freelance artist with a studio at the Milchhof artists’ collective in Berlin.
Thomas Schwarz
Visual Artist
Thomas Schwarz creates sculptures and forest reliefs from ancient timbers. His studio and sculpture garden in Schleife is an attractive and popular venue set in the natural landscape of central Lusatia. He is involved in a wide range of exhibition projects, structural transformation initiatives and funding programmes.
Hella Stolecki | Hella Stoletzki
Painter, Filmmaker
Hella Stolecki is part of the young, creative and progressive Sorbian/Wendish art scene in Lower Lusatia. She is a member of Łužycafilm – Sorbian-German Film Network, curator of the section Heimat.Domownja.Domizna at the FilmFestival Cottbus, and a founding member of Kolektiw Wakuum – for Sorbian Art and Culture. In 2023, she received the Brandenburg State Award for Young Artists in the Visual Arts.
Literature / Journalism
Měrana Cušcyna | Měrana Zuschke
Writer, translator
After completing her Abitur at the Sorbian Extended Secondary School in Bautzen, Měrana Cušcyna studied Slavic studies and pedagogy at the University of Leipzig. Until 2009, she worked as a teacher at the Sorbian Grammar School in Bautzen and as an author of textbooks for the Sorbian language and literature. Her first volume of poetry was published in Upper Sorbian in 2000. Further volumes of poetry and prose followed in both Upper Sorbian and German. Her texts have been translated into Czech, Slovak, Finnish, Serbian, Polish and Ukrainian. Since 2010, she has translated dramatic texts into Upper Sorbian for the German-Sorbian People’s Theatre.
Wikipedia POETENLADEN
Jěwa-Marja Čornakec | Eva-Maria Zschornack
Writer, Translator
Jěwa-Marja Čornakec is a Sorbian writer and translator. After studying cultural studies and Sorabistics, she shaped the Sorbian cultural journal Rozhlad as editor-in-chief from 1992 to 2011. She subsequently worked as a dramaturge at the Sorbian National Ensemble until her retirement. Her literary work includes prose for children and adults, plays, libretti and song lyrics. In recognition of her services to the Sorbian language and literature, she has received, among others, the Ćišinski Advancement Award (2011) and the Zejler Prize (2024).
Website Wikipedia SerbskiTV
Lubina Hajduk-Veljkovićowa
Writer, Translator, Dramaturge
Lubina Hajduk-Veljković is a Sorbian writer, translator and author of children’s books. She writes primarily in Upper Sorbian and moves confidently between poetry, prose, drama and children’s literature. In her texts, she combines contemporary themes with imaginative narrative forms and makes a significant contribution to the development of contemporary Sorbian literature. Through her Veles publishing house, she also reaches an international readership and publishes classics of children’s and young adult literature in Upper Sorbian.
Milan Hrabal
Czech Poet, Translator, Publicist, Editor
Milan Hrabal (*1954 in Varnsdorf, Czech Republic) worked as an economist, civil servant and librarian, and served as town chronicler for eleven years. He has published thirteen volumes of poetry (two of which are dedicated to the Sorbs), a collection of short stories, a children’s book and two publications on the painter and graphic artist Hanka Krawcec.
His poems have been translated into German, Polish, Sorbian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian and English, and some have been set to music. He has published numerous translations of Sorbian poetry, including Na druhé straně slunce (On the Other Side of the Sun, 1998), Jazyk, jímž porozumíš větru (The Language with Which You Understand the Wind, 2007) and a selection of poems by Benedikt Dyrlich, Naléhavá poezie (Urgent Poems, 2013). He has received, among other distinctions, the Gogol Prize, the Babary-Jurkowská Medal and the Domowina Prize, and is an honorary member of the Society of Friends of Lusatia.
PORTRAIT (CZ) Literary Salon (DE)
Jill-Francis "Źilka" Ketlicojc | Jill-Francis Käthlitz
Writer, Poet, Journalist
Jill-Francis Ketlicojc, also known by the pseudonym Źilka, is a Lower Sorbian writer, poet and editor of the weekly newspaper Nowy Casnik. She writes poetry, short prose and children’s literature in Lower Sorbian, published in various journals and books. In her literary work, she combines playful narrative forms with a strong commitment to the visibility and transmission of the Lower Sorbian language, particularly among younger readers.
SLUB TextLab Wikipedia
Werner MěšMarka Maćijowa | Maria Matschie kank | Werner Meschkank
Editor, publicist and translator
Marka Maćijowa was born in 1955 and grew up in Budyšin | Bautzen. After studying theatre studies, she worked at Domowina-Verlag from 1978 to 2020, most recently as Managing Director. She has edited several anthologies of Sorbian literature (Pod Bohatej wěžu, 2002; Widźu nana, widźu mać, 2007; Prěni raz, 2022; Wie ein Mittelpunkt entsteht, 2023; Serbstwo, quo vadis?, 2024; Der Fiedler unterm Dach und weitere Geschichten, 2025). She also regularly writes reviews and essays and works as a freelance translator and editor.
Werner Měškank | Werner Meschkank
Journalist, Author, Translator
Werner Měškank is one of the most prolific Lower Sorbian journalists, authors and translators. After graduating from the Sorbian Extended Secondary School in Chóśebuz | Cottbus, he studied journalism at Karl Marx University Leipzig. He subsequently worked as an editor, presenter and reporter for the Sorbian editorial department at Radio DDR / Cottbus station. From 1985 he was a research associate at the District Museum Cottbus, Branitz Palace, and from 1994 to 2022 he served as curator of the Wendish Museum Cottbus. He writes in both Sorbian languages and is, among other things, the lyricist of more than 400 Upper and Lower Sorbian songs.
Dr Justyna Michniuk
Social Scientist, Publicist, Translator
Justyna Michniuk holds a doctorate in social sciences and is the author of publications on Sorbian customs. She works as a journalist, publicist and translator for Polish and German. She is a member of the Freier Deutscher Autorenverband – Landesverband Brandenburg e. V. (FDA), the Lubuskie Towarzystwo Naukowe (Lubusz Scientific Society), and the Polskie Towarzystwo Ludoznawcze (Polish Ethnological Society).
PISMA FOLKOWEGO (PL) ISAP (PL)
Měrka Mětowa
Writer
Měrka Mětowa, born in 1959 in Budyšin/Bautzen, trained as a librarian and worked, among other roles, as a marketing officer at Domowina Publishing House until 2023. In 1997, she published her first volume of short prose, Wulět do paradiza (Excursion to Paradise). Further stories for children and adults followed, most recently the collaborative chain text znaki, pominaki, kopolaki (2019) with Róža Domašcyna and Měrana Cušcyna.
She also writes radio drama series for children for Sorbian broadcasting. Měrka Mětowa is a precise and sensitive observer of everyday life, which she describes with psychological acuity and often with subtle humour.
dr. Christiana Piniekowa |
Dr Christiane Piniek – Lenka
Editor, Translator, Writer
Dr Christiana Piniekowa taught Sorbian literature at the University of Leipzig until 1999 and has been working in Chóśebuz | Cottbus since 2000. She is the editor of modern Sorbian and Wendish drama (10 issues, 1994–2010), of the German-language edition of poems by Mina Witkojc (Echo aus dem Spreewald, 2001), and of numerous Sorbian and Wendish teaching materials. She also contributed to the new edition of the Wendish Bible of 1868 (2017, 2021).
Writing under the pseudonym Lenka, she publishes poetry and short prose in three languages: Lower Sorbian, Upper Sorbian and German, and has released volumes of poetry (2004, 2010). Her texts have been translated into Finnish, Serbian, Slovenian, Slovak, Czech and Ukrainian.
Wikipedija (Upper Sorbian) Wikipedija (Lower Sorbian)
Sylwija Šěnowa
Teacher, poet, writer, translator, reviewer and author of textbooks
Sylwija Šěnowa teaches Sorbian, Biology and Ethics at the Sorbian Grammar School in Bautzen. She is also the author of textbooks, teaching materials and essays on the didactics of Sorbian as a subject.
After winning second and first prize in the Sorbian young writers’ competition in 2009 and 2011 respectively, she has been represented with her own prose texts in all major Sorbian anthologies. In 2023, her debut volume Mosty přez morjo (“Bridges Across the Sea”) was published, establishing her as a poet. In 2025, she was awarded the Smoler Literary Prize for this work.
Alfons Wićaz | Alfons Lehmann
Journalist, Author
After studying Slavic studies, Alfons Wićaz worked on the editorial teams of the Upper Sorbian children’s magazine Płomjo and the daily newspaper Nowa doba, as well as for the Lausitzer Rundschau and the Sächsische Zeitung. Until his retirement in 2010, he was a member of the editorial staff of the daily newspaper Serbske Nowiny. There, he edited and conceptualised, among other projects, the supplement Kultur und Kunst and also wrote reviews and portraits of cultural practitioners.
His short stories have been published in six anthologies. In 1990, Domowina Publishing House in Bautzen published his book Serbski Sokoł on the history of the Sorbian sports movement between 1920 and 1933. His teaching booklet The Development of Sorbian Journalism in the GDR from May 1945 to the End of 1978 was published by Karl Marx University Leipzig in 1979. The Sorbonne in Paris published his extensive article on the Sorbian press in its journal Revue des Études Slaves. As a former board member of the Sorbian Artists’ Association, he organised numerous cultural events.
WIKIPEDIJA (Upper Sorbian) serbskiTV
Wórša Wićazowa | Ursula Lehmann
Teacher, Author
As a school pupil, she attended the Bautzen branch of the Palucca School Dresden. She worked as a teacher for 49 years. During this time, she directed a school choir with which she also made radio recordings, founded a dance and theatre group, and established a literary circle.
Her Sorbian children’s books Pućowanje małeho pampucha and Són wo jědlence, as well as short stories published in anthologies, have delighted young readers. She is also the author of children’s songs and short theatrical scenes published in the children’s magazine Płomjo. Stage adaptations were created from the children’s books Die Reise des kleinen Pfannkuchens and Traum vom Tannenbaum. Further revues for children—Erntesuite, Jubiläumstorte and Ist die Sonne eingeschlafen—were also very successful.
The danced musical fairy tale Der kleine Pfannkuchen was staged trilingually with great success by the Sorbisches Nationalensemble. On the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the birth of Jakub Bart-Ćišinski, her staged reading Auf der Erde ein Stück Himmelreich – das ist zu Hause was performed with actors from the Deutsch-Sorbisches Volkstheater in the Bautzen theatre and at further venues.
Research / Cultural Management
dr. Theresa Jacobsowa |
Dr Theresa Jacobs
Researcher, Arts and Cultural Facilitator
Theresa Jacobs completed her doctorate on folk dance practices among the Sorbs/Wends and has since worked as a research associate at the Serbski Institut / Sorbian Institute in Budyšin/Bautzen. In parallel, she works freelance as a project and production manager in the fields of cultural education, art and culture.
She has collaborated with artists including Irina Pauls, Heike Hennig, Olaf Martens and Maja Nagel, as well as with institutions such as K3 – Centre for Choreography | Kampnagel / Tanzplan Hamburg, friendly fire, the Saxony State Association for Cultural Youth Education and the Serbski muzej / Sorbian Museum. She is co-founder of Serbska reja e.V. and regularly leads social dance events to live music.
