We at BAK are deeply saddened that Marion von Osten has left this world. We are indebted to Marion for all she has taught us, and for the honor of working closely together with us on many occasions over more than a decade.

In the introduction to the publication Marion von Osten: Once We Were Artists (A BAK Critical Reader in Artists’ Practice, 2017), Maria Hlavajova sums up a few of the attributes that made Marion such an extraordinary artist, thinker, and person whose life has touched so many: 

 “As an artist, feminist, organizer, curator, friend, collaborator, editor, lecturer, writer, researcher, participant, educator, comrade—in no particular order, the list could go on—von Osten’s is a practice that is as significant for the field of art and beyond as it is complex to unpack. Although never standing alone and always in relation, her cultural work has been key in shaping the practice of art that is the public sphere and political space.”

Her intellectual brilliance, generosity, and commitment to a radically transversal artistic practice and other pathways of making culture compels us to go on with all that she strived and lived for.

Thank you for everything Marion. You will be forever missed.