Oleksandra Bienert (1983), a native of Ukraine, earned a degree in computer science from Kiev Polytechnic. In 2005 she moved to Berlin, where she entered a bachelor’s program in European ethnology and Scandinavian studies. In 2008 she submitted her thesis, titled “Identit?t im Wandel: Zwischen Inszenierung und Wirklichkeit” (Identity in transition: between the staged and the actual). Since December 2006 she has worked on a voluntary basis as the coordinator of the Berlin office of the Association of Ukrainian Students in Germany. In fall 2007 she initiated the project “Zwei Ufer eines Flusses” (Two banks of one river), a competition for young Ukrainian photographers in Berlin.
Since the start of 2006, Oleksandra has taught rhythmic sport gymnastics at Fun und Zeal Berlin-Brandenburg e.V. In 2008 she began work as an independent contractor for the Stiftung zur Aufarbeitung der SED-Diktatur, an institution dedicated to understanding the causes, history, and impact of the East German communist dictatorship. Currently, she is also a student assistant at The Center for Research on Contemporary History in Potsdam.
Oleksandra speaks fluent German, Russian, Ukrainian, and English. Right now she is also learning Belarusian.