Anna Ehrenstein

At Art Cologne 2026, in the Neumarkt section at booth N8, we will present works by Anna Ehrenstein from her latest series, „The Language of the Soil“, which was on view earlier this year in a solo exhibition at Fotografiska in Berlin.

Who makes AI work—and what traces does this labour leave behind?
In "The Language of the Soil", Anna Ehrenstein (*1993) explores the often-invisible human labour behind digital systems. The project centres on people who train large language models in Nairobi or work as writers for OnlyFans in Cairo.

Developed in close collaboration with researcher Ariana Dongus and activists and worker-researchers Richard Mathenge, Mophat Okinyi and Fasica Berhane, the project brings their experiences into dialogue with collective fiction. It reveals how digital economies are intertwined with material resources, human bodies and (post)colonial power structures.

Soil represents both the origins and the lasting traces of human labour. From this ground, Ehrenstein raises questions about solidarity, agency and shared futures in an increasingly automated world.

Explore Anna Ehrenstein's full CV and find detailed information on each work in her portfolio.

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Anna Ehrenstein (*1993) is a transdisciplinary artist whose work centres on research, teaching and collaborative projects. Her practice encompasses assemblage, lens-based media, installation, social interactions and writing. She studied media art, photography and curatorial practice and has been Professor of Photography at the Academy of Fine Arts Leipzig since 2024. She previously taught at Bard College, Technische Universität Berlin, Berlin University of the Arts, Stellenbosch Academy in South Africa and Photopia Cairo in Egypt, among other institutions.

Ehrenstein’s work explores the material culture of the periphery, networked images and digital ecologies within conditions of global interconnectedness and prosumption. 

Her works have been exhibited at venues including the Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, Fotografiska in Berlin, the Kyiv Biennale, the Museum Villa Stuck in Munich, the Museum Centquatre in Paris, the Francisco Carolinum in Linz, the Fotomuseum Winterthur, C/O Berlin, the Lagos Biennale, and the Bazament Art Space in Tirana.
Her works are included in the Telekom Art Collection, the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw, the Fotomuseum Winterthur, the Federal Art Collection, and the Haus N Collection, among others.

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