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Photo by courtesy of Dr. Klaus Speidel, Lorenz Seidler (https://esel.at) & Katarina Burin & Krobath Wien.
- Understand the role of narrative in contemporary art and society.
- Learn to craft complex and meaningful narratives while avoiding simplistic storytelling
- Explore different methods of visual narration across diverse media
- Gain insight into how audiences interpret narratives and where communication breakdowns may occur
Enroll now as seats are limited:
Min. seats: 5 | Max. seats: 30 | Language: English
Online Course FROM FIGURE TO TRACE: Storytelling in Visual Art by Klaus Speidel
“How do images tell stories? And how can artists develop visual narratives that go beyond conventional storytelling? This online course explores the power of visual storytelling, moving from figurative depictions to traces, fragments, and abstraction. Through a combination of theoretical input, case studies, exercises and discussion, participants will critically engage with different narrative strategies in visual art.
Whether you are a beginner or an advanced practitioner, this course provides you with analytical tools and practical insights to enhance your understanding and use of narrative structures in art. Over four sessions, we will examine how single images convey meaning, how traces can act as storytelling devices, and how artists can challenge linear narratives. Participants will engage in discussions, reflect on their own artistic approaches, and receive constructive feedback via a dedicated course forum.
This course is open to artists, designers, and creatives from all disciplines who are interested in deepening their understanding of visual narrative. It will provide participants with theoretical foundations, historical insights, and practical strategies for engaging with narrative in their artistic practice.
Since live sessions are limited in time, the course forum plays a crucial role in extending discussions. Assignments, reflections, and visual explorations can be uploaded and commented on by both the instructor and peers, fostering a collaborative and interactive learning experience.” (Text by courtesy of Klaus Speidel)
References
(Participants will be provided with a link to pdfs of all texts)
Initial Reading
- Klaus Speidel, « The small invisible acts of human spirit. Ways of Storytelling », Once upon another time… gyveno jie jau kitaip, Josée Drouin-Brisebois (Ed.), Kaunas Biennial, Kaunas 2021 (E/Lit)
Defining Narrative
- Jerome Bruner, « Two modes of thought » in Actual Minds, Possible Worlds, Cambridge 1986, especially pp. 11 – 28
- Klaus Speidel, « What narrative is. Reconsidering definitions based on experiments with pictorial narrative. An essay in descriptive narratology » in Frontiers of Narrative Studies, 2018; 4(s1): pp. 76 – 104
Problems of visual narrative
- Hannah Fasnacht, “The Narrative Characteristics of Images”, British Journal for Aesthetics, February 2023
- Nelson Goodman, “Twisted Tales of Story, Study, and Symphony”, Critical Inquiry 7. 1980. Reprinted in Nelson Goodman, Of Mind and Other Matters, Cambridge, 1984
- Klaus Speidel, “The Problem of Narration in Abstract Art / Le problème de la narration dans l’art abstrait”, Flatlands. Narrative Abstractions / Abstractions Narratives, Marianne Derrien, Sarah Ihler-Meyer (eds.), Mudam Luxembourg, Mrac Occitanie/Pyrénées-Méditérranée, Editions Cantz, Esslingen/Luxemburg, 2018
- Klaus Speidel, “Lolita and the lovebite. How stories get into space. With a call for trace-based narratives in art”, lightness and mater: Transmediale Kunst | Transmedia Art, Brigite Kowanz/Peter Kozek (eds.), Edition Angewandte/De Gruyter, Wien/Hamburg, 2018
- Klaus Speidel, “‘Telling in Time’ Extended: How Single Pictures Convey Stories, Evoking Suspense, Curiosity, Surprise and Relief”, Poetics Today, Vol. 41, 2020
Your BAI Online Course Instructor

Dr. Klaus Speidel is an art critic and curator, art and image theorist, and winner of the prestigious AICA France prize for Art Criticism awarded by the international association of art critics. He studied philosophy and art history in Munich (LMU) and Paris (Ecole normale supérieure, Paris X Nanterre, Sorbonne) and holds a PhD (Sorbonne) which he did on visual narrative, a topic he has worked, published, talked and taught about for more than 15 years teaches, among them at the Paris College of Art and the University for Applied Arts in Vienna where he currently teaches. He previously held positions at the Sorbonne, Université Paris Diderot, as well as the Universities of Konstanz and Vienna and at numerous fine arts and design academies, such as the design academy Strate in Paris and the HDK in Gothenburg.
Beyond numerous publications on topics related to art, narrative, visual storytelling, depiction, style, drawing and digital, Klaus Speidel writes essays and reviews for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Der Standard, Spike Art Quarterly, artpress, The Art Newspaper, Parnass or The Brooklyn Rail and in catalogues, for instance for the Centre Pompidou, Schirn Kunsthalle, mumok, Albertina, Belvedere, FRAC Franche-Comté, mudam Luxemburg and Kunsthalle Tübingen and Wien. He curated and co-curated exhibitions in Germany, Austria and France in museums and galleries like the Dom Museum Wien, Kunsthalle Wien, Kunstraum Memphis, Galerie Vincenz Sala, Xpo Gallery Paris or Galerie Krinzinger, regularly experimenting with new ways to write and conceive exhibition narratives. He was a guest on the Arte TV show Philosophie with the topic « Image » and a keynote speaker at different international events. Some of his recent curations were Interference. Traces, stories and ghosts (Curated by in Vienna at Galerie Krobath), A shop is a shop is a shop (Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna), Narrating narrativity (Krinzinger Schottenfeld, Vienna) and Fragile Narratives(Kunstraum Memphis, Linz). He also co-curated Fragile Creation and Show me your wound (co-curated with Johanna Schwanberg, Dom Museum Vienna) and De l’écriture de l’écriture (Galerie Vinzenz Sala, Paris) and is currently working on Being mortal, an exhibition addressing death and dying that will open at Dom Museum Vienna in October 2023. As the co-founder of Verein K, he organises and facilitates « Crit Cross. A Forum on Art Criticism ».
More information on the Academia Website.
Save the dates in your calendar
The live sessions for this course will be given on Tuesday October 14, 21, 28 and November 04, 2025, each day from 4 – 6 pm (Berlin time). You will also receive an email reminder for each video conference before it takes place.
Recording of Live Sessions
We record the live sessions so that they remain available for a logged in course participant until one week after the last session. Please check before booking a course the technical requirements as listed below.
Access to content
You will get access to the course content and lessons in our learning management system once you are enrolled.
Technical requirements
We will use the Zoom Meeting application for the live sessions. You need a stable internet connection. There are two ways to access the live meeting:
1. Via the Zoom app
Before joining a Zoom meeting on a computer or mobile device, you can download the Zoom app here: https://zoom.us/download
or on: https://apps.apple.com/de/app/zoom-cloud-meetings/id546505307
Otherwise, you will be prompted to download and install Zoom when you click our join the zoom meeting link.
2. Via Google Chrome Browser on https://zoom.us/join
If you are using Google Chrome to join a meeting, you will see a dialog box to launch the Zoom application.
https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/201362593-Launching-Zoom-from-a-web-browser
Here you find more info: https://youtu.be/hIkCmbvAHQQ
We will provide the Zoom Meeting ID before each meeting. BAI will record the live sessions.
For Windows, macOS, and Linux:
https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/201362023-System-requirements-for-Windows-macOS-and-Linux
In addition to the Online Program, the Berlin Art Institute offers an international Studio Program, a Residency Program, Portfolio Courses, a Spring Academy, a Summer School, an Arts Incubator, a Friends Program, and the presentation and exhibition display 404 | BAI.
If you have any questions, please contact us at ecourses@berlinartinstitute.com