

Julian Hetzel © Eva Roefs
Julian Hetzel works as performance maker, visual artist and musician. He creates performative experiences for theatres and galleries that have a political dimension and a documentary approach. His work is produced and presented internationally in theatre festivals and museums alike – in over 25 countries worldwide.
Julian Hetzel was born in the Black Forest, Germany and is currently based in Amsterdam. He studied at Bauhaus University Weimar with a focus on visual communication. In 2013 he graduated from DasArts Amsterdam, an artistic research laboratory for new forms of theatre and performing arts. Hetzel is a founding member of the electro pop band Pentatones and he performed with the group until 2016. Between 2014 and 2016 Hetzel was associated artist at SPRING Performing Arts Festival Utrecht (Nieuwe Maaker). Since 2014, Hetzel collaborates with Frascati Theater Amsterdam. In 2016, he established Stichting Ism & Heit in Utrecht to realise and produce his artistic work under the label Studio Julian Hetzel. In 2017, The Automated Sniper received the VSCD Mimeprijs. Since 2018 Hetzel works in close collaboration with the Gent based art center CAMPO. Both their joint productions All Inclusive (2018) and Mount Average (2020) have been selected for the Nederlands Theater Festival (2019 / 2021). Hetzel has presented three works at the Venice Biennale Teatro in 2019. The performance Installation SELF has been selected as the Dutch National entry at the Prague Quadrennial in 2019. In 2024, two productions by Studio Julian Hetzel were selected for the Dutch Theater Festival: Diarrhea is My Favorite Color (in collaboration with Theater Artemis) and SPAfrica (in collaboration with Ntando Cele). Diarrhea is My Favorite Color was nominated for the VSCD Mime/Performance Award 2024, and Willemijn Zevenhuijzen won the Golden Cricket 2024 for the most impressive stage performance in youth theatre for her role in this production. Ntando Cele was nominated for the prestigious Theo d’Or 2024 for the most impressive acting performance in a leading role in SPAfrica. Finally, SPAfrica won the directing award for the most impressive direction of the season. His latest creation Three Times Left is Right premiered in May 2025 at Wiener Festwochen | Free Republic of Vienna and was invited to the 2026 Berlin Theatertreffen.
As of: March 2026