By Ruth Ndouop-Kalajian

Maja Bill from Switzerland presented not only her renowned porcelain dolls, but also her new collection of vinyl dolls, all produced by her. Berni Stenek from Austria came with her dolls of porcelain and sculptures made of ceramics. Hiltrud Schwing works exclusively in porcelain and just recently received the Puppen & Spielzeug Award for her dolls; Hiltrud is one of many regular participants in the Doll-Art show.

Renate Scheler is one the artists who uses different materials such as felt, papier-mâché, or modeling clay. She loves to sculpt fantasy personalities and invents their stories together with her son. Christa Mann has been part of doll art scene for many years and loves to create new ideas for her dolls, such as this year’s Fritzy girls. They are inspired by the fashion of the 1930s and ‘40s.

Annia Kauffmann, a well-known German doll artist, combines porcelain with organic materials like driftwood that she finds at Lake Constance, where she lives. Anne Kohlschmidt is famous for her cloth dolls and recently won the Max Oscar Arnold Award at the Dolls’ Festival in Neustadt bei Coburg. In Darmstadt she presented her winning dolls and some of her latest objects.

The next Doll-Art show will take place at the Orangerie in Darmstadt on June 12-13, 2010.