About

Director, actor and artist, born in Bolzano in 1980 and based in Belgium since 2015.

Benno Steinegger studied at the University of Florence, Universidade Nova de Lisboa and the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in London (MFA).

His artistic practice revolves around two core inquiries: identity and power structures. In i (to be defined) he dissects his own identity through a series of interviews in which others describe him, while The Chance to Find Yourself examines the mechanisms of white power. His first film, Language Portraits, winner of the CinemAmore Award at Trento Film Festival 2023, explores the dynamics of dominance and marginality between languages. With to those who will survive… he extends this investigation to the relationships of power between humans and plants.

His solo and collective performances and his visual works have been presented internationally at venues and festivals including Drodesera, Beijing Fringe, Vooruit, Fast Forward, Premières, FAR°, Romaeuropa, MUSEION, Raum, Santarcangelo, Nordic Fringe, Contemporanea, ZonaK, TU Nantes, Staatstheater Braunschweig, Kaaitheater, Tarmac des Auteurs in Kinshasa, CAMPO and Operaestate.

In 2008 he co-founded the Italian theatre collective Codice Ivan, where he worked as author, director and performer. The group won the Premio Scenario in 2009 and built a strong national and international profile through touring, co-productions and residencies. After Codice Ivan concluded its activity in 2015, he began developing his individual path.

In 2016 he created i (to be defined), co-produced by wpZimmer, Vereinigte Bühnen Bozen and Festival Transart, with the support of Vooruit (now VierNulVier) and workspacebrussels. The Chance to Find Yourself (2021) was co-produced by workspacebrussels, KAAP, Garage 29 and CAMPO, supported by wpZimmer, KLm/Kinkaleri, the Flemish Government and the Flemish Community Commission, and developed with WIPCOOP/Mestizo Arts Platform. In 2020 he directed a production for Staatstheater Braunschweig in collaboration with the Hochschule für Bildende Künste Braunschweig.

As an actor and performer he has worked with Yan Duyvendak, Roger Bernat, Francesca Grilli, Jesse Ash, Kinkaleri, Motus, Michael Portnoy/Promt, Deflorian/Tagliarini, Kate McIntosh, Jessica Glause and Helle Siljeholm, and in films by Giacomo Battiato, Jens Jonsson, Giovanni Aloi, Roberto Faenza, Sergio Rubini and Terrence Malick.