Article
Cesy Leonard is an action artist, speaker, and founder of the Radikale Töchter (Radical Daughters) – inspiring people through political art to stand up for democracy, freedom, equality, brotherhood, and sisterhood. Early in her career, Cesy discovered her passion to let art take place where it provokes and makes a political statement – as a graffiti artist and rapper. She studied acting in Berlin and worked in film, television, theater. She often experiences what it means to have to conform to a clichéd image of women, which led her to direct her own films. In 2012, she won the Web Video Award for her film Guilt – the barbarism of Europe about food speculation. Also, in 2012 she joined the artistic staff of the collective Center for Political Beauty, which uses their art to create publicity for pressing political issues. Art’s power to mobilize people to act inspired the idea for the Radikale Töchter. Funded by the Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung (Federal Agency for Civic Education) as a model project the team works to strengthen democracy in the former GDR (East Germany). Cesy is the mother of two children and lives in Berlin.
Updated November 2021
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Challenging the Boundaries of Democracy
Read the latest opinion piece by Senior Landecker Fellow Cesy Leonard which she wrote as part of her Fellowship.
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Cesy & Radikale Töchter receive the Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung funding
Senior Landecker Fellow Cesy Leonard's organization Radikale Töchter (Radical Daughters) received the Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung funding for their action art workshops in Brandenburg.
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Cesy and the MUTPlaner in the media's spotlight
Senior Landecker Fellow Cesy Leonard was featured in multiple media coverages to discuss political activism.
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The "MUTplaner" is out!
Senior Landecker Fellow Cesy has been working tirelessly on the “MutMuskelTrainer” – a radical calendar inspiring anyone to take action week after week in 2023. The planner is now available for purchase.
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Cesy Leonard in Veto Magazine
Landecker Fellow Cesy Leonard was featured in the tenth edition of the Veto Magazine.
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"MutMuskelTrainer" Now Available for Pre-Orders
Landecker Fellow Cesy Leonard publishes the "MutMuskelTrainer." This radical annual calendar inspires anyone to take action week after week in 2023.
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Rebel Planner
Landecker Democracy Fellow Cecy's project, Rebel Planner, is an empowering workbook for more political engagement. The workbook uses tools and techniques known from coaching and mindfulness training.
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Political engagement through art with Friedrich Ebert Stiftung
Cesy Leonard discusses political engagement through art in east and west in the "DREAM(a)LAND" event organized by Friedrich Ebert Stiftung.
