Leon Kahane (b. 1985, Berlin) studied photography at the Ostkreuzschule, and fine art at the Berlin University of the Arts. He has worked as an assistant to Wolfgang Tillmans and Hito Steyerl, among others. Since 2008, his artistic practice has focused on European border policies, including as part of a long-term research project on FRONTEX. In 2018, he founded the “Forum for Democratic Culture and Contemporary Art” together with Fabian Bechtle.

His work has been shown internationally in institutions such as the Kunsthalle Wien, the Jewish Museum Berlin, the NBK Berlin, the Belvedere 21 Vienna, the 6th Moscow Biennale and the Deichtorhallen Hamburg. His solo exhibitions include presentations at the GFZK Leipzig, the Galerie Nagel Draxler Berlin, the Traklhaus Salzburg and the Brandenburg State Museum of Modern Art.

Leon Kahane has been awarded the ars viva art prize and the GFZK European Future Art Prize, among others. He has held residencies in Hong Kong and on Fogo Island (Canada). He has been a mentor in the Berlin Program for Artists (BPA) since 2022 and has taught at the Salzburg Summer Academy and the Studium Generale at the UdK Berlin, among others.