AKKURAT Studios initiates a project to promote young talent and designs a limited apparel collection in cooperation with the artists Monja Gentschow, Chehad Abdallah, Hans Berger and Max Siedentopf support the project.
It is the second year that AKKURAT Studios initiates a project to promote young talent in the creative industry, which is primarily aimed at young people with a family history of immigration. In 2022, AKKURAT Studios is cooperating with the Institut der Deutschen Werbefilmakademie and is launching IXA to organize free workshops and panels in Germany.
IXA (Das Institut x AKKURAT) is a place of continuing education for young adults from all social backgrounds with an interest in the creative industry. The project’s big goal is to make the commercial film industry more accessible to young talents in a sustainable way. The promotion of equal opportunities is groundbreaking for the IXA Academy program.
True to the saying “Be who you needed when you were younger.” AKKURAT Studios designed the “AKKURAT IXA Edition” collection in collaboration with the artists Monja Gentschow, Chehad Abdallah, Hans Berger and Max Siedentopf to financially support the young talent programe. The works of the four artists are as versatile as the project itself: the potentials of young talents are limitless and IXA is a place where they can be discovered and developed. The limited-edition collection includes sweatshirts and long sleeves; with each sale, AKKURAT Studios donates 50% of the proceeds to their young talent program IXA.
The collection is available at www.akkurat.tv/shop. More information and registration options for the IXA Young Talent Program are available on the website www.ixa.academy.
THE ARTISTS
Monja Gentschow @monifaktur
Monja Gentschow, born and raised in Berlin, studied at the Weißensee Art Academy and the Berlin University of the Arts. As an artist and illustrator, she runs her own manufactory and among other things, she is responsible for all the artwork of the Berlin techno label KeineMusik and illustrates a column for ZEIT. Her handwriting is significant to her work — her style is playful yet raw, imaginative and often humorous. Monja Gentschow and AKKURAT Studios collaborated to design a longsleeve.
“Being creative often helps people process what they have experienced. Creative work can help others broaden their horizons, and perhaps become more tolerant and emphatic. Things that a society needs to move forward.“ (Monja Gentschow)
Max Siedentopf @maxsiedentopf
Max Siedentopf lives and works in Berlin as a multidisciplinary conceptual artist in the fields of video, photography, sculpture and creative direction. From 2013 to 2020 he worked as a Creative Director for the creative agency KesselsKramer, founded in 1996 by Dutch artist Erik Kessels. Max Siedentopf is also the founder of the art publication ORDINARY, which was nominated for Magazine of the Year at the STACK AWARDS. Alongside works by Yayoi Kusama, Elmgreen & Dragset and Le Corbusier, VOGUE Italy named Max Siedentopf’s work “Toto forever” in its list of “10 Extraordinary Artworks You Need To Travel to the Edge of the World to See.” For his Gommi “Psychosis” music video he was awarded the “Most Bizarre Video” at the Berlin Music Video Awards. Since 2021 Max Siedentopf is a director at AKKURAT Studios. Max Siedentopf and AKKURAT Studios collaborated to design a long sleeve.
“In an infinitely complex and not very transparent industry that’s continuously changing, it can often be hard for young creatives to navigate through it and find what they really like. Schools and universities are great places to start but the only real way to learn is by doing. I think IXA x AKKURAT is a great initiative that can give hands-on advice from people that work and breathe creativity every day and not only teach it out of dusty old textbooks from 50 years ago.“ (Max Siedentopf)
Chehad Abdallah @chehad
Chehad Abdallah is a Lebanese-German artist active in several disciplines such as graphic design, video, illustration and different forms of intervention. His work spans music videos, record covers, commercials, installations and visual identities. Regardless of the medium, Chehad’s work can mostly be distinguished as being a bold visual manifesto using raw and iconic imagery. This fresh approach has not gone unnoticed: over the past two years, his works have been honoured with numerous awards, including D&AD Pencils and ADC Europe Awards and been displayed in several exhibitions including „Petites Resistances“ (Düsseldorf/Germany) and on „New York Subways“ (New York City/USA). He lives in Berlin and works globally. Chehad Abdallah and AKKURAT Studios collaborated to design a sweatshirt.
“It’s the hardest way to make an easy living“ (Chehad Abdallah)
Hans Berger @hans_berger
The illustrator Hans Berger lives and works in Berlin. He works as a graphic designer for Carhartt WIP. Hans Berger and AKKURAT STUDIOS collaborated to design a sweatshirt.
“I am a firm believer that sharing practices and trading shorthands elevates every artform. That’s why pathing ways for the following generation and making sure success isn’t rooted in privilege is key.” (Hans Berger)
AKKURAT Studios GmbH @akkurat.studios
AKKURAT Studios is a collective of award-winning directors and photographers, multi-disciplinary creatives and up-and-coming talents. For several years, the company has been producing high-quality advertising films and brand content. As a place of inspiration and collaboration, AKKURAT also realizes projects and ideas far removed from classic productions. The focus here is to create platforms to promote passionate, young talents. One such platform was the AKKURAT Summer Academy in the summer of 2021, which formed the cornerstone for IXA.
“We are a close-knit network of talented individuals whose goal is to provide creative solutions for a wide variety of media. The advantage of us as producers, directors, etc. is the ability to look at projects and creative talent from a different perspective.” (Rocco Kopecny (Managing Director, AKKURAT Studios GmbH)
Photos by Murat Aslan @murataslanbln
