Cesy Leonard

In the artist's words:

Cesy Leonard is a performance artist and founder of Radical Daughters.
Until 2019, she was part of the artistic team of the Center for Political Beauty and developed political multimedia interventions that attracted international attention. Her focus is on political empowerment through art.

Her artistic roots lie in the Stuttgart hip-hop scene: first as a graffiti artist and later as a rapper, she shaped an aesthetic that combines subculture, provocation and social attitude. This love of mixing genres still characterizes her work today. She studied acting at the Fritz Kirchhoff School "Der Kreis" in Berlin and subsequently worked in film, television and theater. The experience of often having to play clichéd female roles motivated her to realize her own visions as a director and performance artist. She has won prizes such as the Web Video Award 2021 for her film "Schuld - die Barbarei Europas". Her film "Montags Tanzen" was shown at the Max Ophüls Film Festival in 2015.

With Radikale Töchter, she creates spaces in which political action is rethought. At the interface of art, design, politics and education, she provides creative impetus for social change. Her approach combines aesthetic strategies with activist methods to encourage people to become politically active themselves. Cesy Leonard is a work-in-progress feminist and mother of three. She lives with her partner and three children in a patchwork family in Berlin. Her work stands for radical creativity and the power of art to initiate social change.

In a world full of crises, the feeling of powerlessness is growing. Cesy Leonard is doing something about it: Action. The performance artist stands for radical interventions in public space that spark debate and demonstrate: Anyone can be politically effective. With her organization "Radical Daughters", she goes where democracy is crumbling - and calls on people to get involved.