Stefan Kraus

Born in 1960. Author, photographer, book designer, educator. Studied art history, German language and literature, and education. Since 1983, he has worked as a freelance curator, including at the Kölnischer Kunstverein. He earned his doctorate with a dissertation on the Rhenish Expressionist Walter Ophey. Beginning in 1991, he contributed to the redesign, collection development, and new building plans for KOLUMBA, which he directed from 2008 to 2025. In 2013, KOLUMBA was named Museum of the Year by the German section of AICA. In 2017, he was awarded the Friedlieb Ferdinand Runge Prize for unconventional art education. He has authored numerous publications on art, museology, and aesthetics, most of which feature his own photographs. He has been engaged in artistic work throughout his career and has been exhibiting his own work since 2018. He lives in Cologne.