Bruno Baumann
Born in 1955 in Austria. He lives in Munich where he works as an author and filmmaker. Baumann has been travelling for decades and has visited the Himalayas many times. He is considered to be a leading expert on Tibet and the Asian deserts. In 1994, he managed to cross the centre of the Gobi desert - the so-called ‘Himalayas of Sand’ - by foot. This expedition has been granted the status of an UNESCO project with the goal to search for sand buried ruins of the Silk Road. In autumn of 1996, Bruno Baumann attempted which was regarded as a mission impossible. He tried to cross the ‘Devil´s Sandpit’ (Spiegel magazine) solo and unsupported. He failed. In 2000, he returned to the Takla Makan to follow the traces of the ill-fated expedition of the Swedish explorer Sven Hedin. In October 2003, Bruno Baumann finally succeeded in crossing the Gobi desert´s centre solo. In May 2004, Baumann and his team became the first to raft the Sutley Canyon in western Tibet by inflatable kayaks. On this remarkable journey in search of the truth behind the myth of Shangri-La, he discovered the relics of an ancient kingdom called Shang Shung. On his latest project Silkroad Experiences - Roads of Dialogue, the Austrian intends to revive the spirit of the Silk Road by a spectacular cultural caravan.
See more: www.bruno-baumann.de
Laura Beyer
Communicating with people of other cultures is a pleasure for Laura Beyer, and at the same time a challenge. She has completed studies in English at the Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena and musicology at the Academy for Music Franz Liszt Weimar. Currently she is enrolled in the Master program Visual and Media Anthropology at the Free University in Berlin. As a cultural all rounder she translates into English for the Silk Road Project and she will be part of the press and media team. Moreover, she will help with the organizational supervision of the Silk Road Ensemble. Laura Beyer was born in 1987 in Berlin.
After her graduation, she went to Mongolia for three months to teach English. This time was rich in experience and multicultural encounters. During one of her several trips to Bhutan Laura was adopted as a sister by a Lama. The young woman from Berlin says about herself that she is a passionate traveller.
Michael Strohmann
Dr. Michael Strohmann, born in 1958, is working together with Bruno Baumann for a couple of years now to bring the Silkroad Experiences to life. He is a geographer, journalist and outdoor expert. Together with some well-known extreme athletes from Braunschweig/Germany, Strohmann founded the charitable organization Friends for Life in 2004. Strohmann is a passionate endurance athlete and is the president of Friends For Life. His organization aims at overcoming cultural and social barriers by means of uncommon and spectacular sports events. Very convinced by their focus on dialogue and integration, Bruno Baumann decided to cooperate with Strohmann and his organization.
As member of the executive staff, Michael Strohmann has, amongst others, the task of Chief Manager Outdoor Experience for the Silkroad Experiences Project.
See more: www.ffl-extremsport.de
Ekkeland Götze
The artist Ekkeland Götze from Munich, born in Dresden in 1948, is working since 1989 for his conceptional "Image of the EARTH". He has completed so called "terragraphic" projects on all continents. While the Silkroad-caravan is moving along the Silk Road, he will sublime earth at various significant places. The artwork Götze is going to create from this material shall symbolize the vision of an intercultural dialogue.
As a member of the Silkroad Experiences executive staff, Götze is coordinating and managing the work of the "Silkroad Ensemble" and the art project "Silkroad Inspiration".
See more: www.ekkeland.de
Tim Rademacher
Tim Rademacher is currently enrolled in the Geography Tripos at the University of Cambridge, England. He is a cosmopolitan personality and experiences intercultural dialogue on a daily basis in St.Edmond´s College with its 350 students of more than 70 nationalities. Prior to his studies he was awarded with the "Diplome d`études secondaire" in Montréal, Canada, and the Abitur in Bad Segeberg, Germany, where he was born in 1987. Due to his education he speaks not only English and French, but also Spanish and Portuguese. Currently he is learning Russian and Chinese.
Tim is especially interested in global sustainability on economic, ecological and social scales. Tim is a passionate endurance and outdoor athlete.
Lukas Kogler
Lukas Kogler first began working as a nature photographer in 1994. At the same time he started to create multimedia presentations for several National Parks in Austria.
In 2000, Lukas got into the film scene and started his career as cutter. Apart from that work he developed concepts for museums and special exhibitions. Among these were the Haus der Natur (Nature Museum and Competence Centre) and the National Park Kalkalpen. It was just a question of time until Lukas began to work on TV formats. Since 2005 he is cooperating with the ORF (Austrian Television). Meanwhile he has worked on several documentaries for the internationally successful prime time format ORF - Universum, for 3Sat, the ORF culture format Kreuz & Quer as well as for cinema productions. In search of new challenges, Lukas became a 3D specialist and together with his partner Johannes Pötscher, he founded a 3D production company. Their pioneer work in the field of 3D caught attention by a newly installed ORF 3D TV sector. As a worldwide novelty, the ORF launched a 3D trailer of a nature documentary made by Lukas and his partner. This gained widespread reputation and praise at the sales fair in Cannes 2009.
See more: www.dreiD.at
Eva Farkas
Eva´s knowledge and expertise in Shiatsu and Coaching will be incorporated in all fields of the Silkroad Experiences which are relevant to sensual perception and physical experiences.
She was born in Langenwang (Austria) and acquired her diploma in Healing Massage after having finished a professional pedagogic education. For many years she is working with clients in a doctor´s office. Fifteen years ago she started to specialise in Shiatsu and Quantum Bodywork which supports a holistic concept in human therapy. Eva Farkas grew up on a remote farm and nature plays an important role in her life until today. She has extensive experiences as senior teacher in the International Shiatsu School of Austria in Graz. The members of the Silkroad Team will profit from these skills as well.
Eva will be responsible for the coordination and conceptualisation of the Silkroad Workshops which intend to initiate a dialogue amongst young people along the Silk Road. The setting for these workshops will be an original Mongolian yurt.
See more: www.shiatsu.at
Carlos Marques
Carlos was born in 1979, in Lisbon, Portugal. After completing his High School studies in the social-economic field, he graduated as a Tree Surgeon. He was immediately after bitten by the travel bug, left Portugal and has since then lived in several countries.
As part of an international runners team that organizes worldwide relay running events with the goal of bringing together individuals of all backgrounds, he has ran across many different countries. Though at times indeed a challenge, these multicultural and diverse living experiences turned out to be deeply enriching and heart-opening.
Currently living in Switzerland he is an active member of the Swiss Alpine Club and a passionate outdoor athlete, pursuing his deep love and connection with Nature, free-riding/snowboarding, rock climbing, mountain climbing and trekking from the European Alps to Japan and the Himalayas. He speaks fluently Portuguese, English, French, German, Italian and a "creative" variation of Spanish.
He is always eager to learn the language of the countries he travels to, believing, however, that communication and dialogue are as much a language skill as they are an inner and outer attitude of listening, openness and respect.
Yangjor Lama
