Maja Avnat

Maja Avnat is a designer and researcher who studied Product Design at the UdK Berlin and Cultural History and Theory at the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. Her research is situated at the intersection of ecologies and design, focusing on plants, urbanity, history, and materials. She co-founded the project space Cala and is part of the research initiative Kontaminiert Werden.

She is an associated researcher at the Cluster of Excellence Matters of Activity as part of the Architectural Yarns research project, which is part of Material Form Function as well as the project »Activating Circular Networks«.

Field
Cultural Theory and History, Design Research
Projects
Material Form Function (Junior Researcher)
Email Address
avnat [​at​] kh-berlin.de
ORCID ID
https://orcid.org/0009-0009-3575-8990
Address

Cluster of Excellence »Matters of Activity«
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
Sophienstr. 22a
10178 Berlin

Knowledge Transfer

Contributions to Exhibitions

Kesselring, R., Avnat, M. »Planted Archives: Spuren der Umweltgeschichte im Botanischen Garten des Späth-Arboretum.« At the exhibition: Vegetal Companions: Arts, Sciences and Temporalities of Co-Existence. Späth-Arboretum. 13 May 2025 - 28 June 2025.

Maxie Schneider, Alexandra Chrampanis, Maja Avnat, Jasmin Sermonet, Iva Rešetar, Christiane Sauer. »Tangled Wall.« At the exhibition: WEtransFORM. Zur Zukunft des Bauens. Bundeskunsthalle, Bonn. 6 June 2025 - 25 January 2026.
https://www.bundeskunsthalle.de/wetransform; https://www.matters-of-activity.de/en/activities/16612/wetransform-on-the-future-of-building

Talks & Events

Talks & Presentations

Kesselring, R., Avnat, M. Weedy Knowledges and Vegetal Companions: An event Series on Art, Sciences and Temporalities of Co-Exsistance. Talk at the Matters of Activity: Material Agency and Interdisciplinary Knowledge, Späth-Arboretum der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. Hybrid. 4 February 2026.
https://www.matters-of-activity.de/en/activities/17727/matters-of-activity-material-agency-and-interdisciplinary-knowledge

Avnat, M. (Lecturer), Kesselring, R., Stock, R. (Organizers). Verwilderte Lianen, pflanzliche Arbeit und Gehölze, die sich anlehnen. Audiowalk. Panel Presentation at the Arboreales Wissen: Praktiken, Materialität, Zeitlichkeit, Späth- Arboretum, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin. Vegetal Companions: Arts, Sciences and Temporalities of Co-Existence, part of the ＿matter Festival 2025. Cluster of Excellence Matters of Activity, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. 6 June 2025.

Invited Moderation/ Comment

González, J., Parikka, J., Gil-Fournier, A., Heberle, J., Avnat, M. Invited moderation of the panel Ecologies of Light. Annual Conference ››Out of Hand. Active, Ambiguous and Unsteady Matter‹‹, Silent Green, Berlin. Cluster of Excellence Matters of Activity, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. 19 September 2025.

Teaching & Supervision

Teaching & Courses

Vega Vargas, N., Avnat, M., Leask, Y. Hybrid Craft. Basketry between the Analog and the Digital. MoA Design Research Studio, weißensee school of art and design. 13 October 2025 - 11 February 2026.

Awards & Funding

External Grants, Fellowships, Scholarships & Residencies

Maja Avnat 2024. Student Grant der Wübben Stiftung Wissenschaft. Wübben Stiftung Wissenschaft Scholarship.

Networks

Research Stays at Another Institution

Alena Trapp, Jann Mausen, Maja Avnat. ››Kontaminiert Werden: Was ist das Politische in der Beziehung zwischen Menschen und Pflanzen in der Stadt?‹‹. In anatomia publica. Tieranatomisches Theater, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin. 1 October 2025 - 31 December 2025.

Media Contributions

Podcasts & Videos

Maja Avnat. Verwilderte Lianen, pflanzliche Arbeit und Gehölze, die sich anlehnen. Part if the __ matter Festival 2025. Audio. 57 minutes, 13 May 2025.
https://www.matters-of-activity.de/en/posts/16455/verwilderte-lianen-pflanzliche-arbeit-und-geholze-die-sich-anlehnen