INTERDISCIPLINARY ARTIST & CREATIVE DIRECTOR

Catarina Aimée Dahms aka CATA.PIRATA is an interdisciplinary artist, creative director, composer, and educator working across immersive performance, interactive audio-visual installation, music, and cross-platform creative strategy. Her practice operates at the intersection of sound, visual art, storytelling, and participatory experience design, exploring how interdisciplinary composition can shape audience engagement, collective identity, and experiential narratives.

She holds a Master of Arts in Visual Performance & Time-Based Arts, a Post-Graduate Diploma in Intercultural Music Education and a Bachelor’s degree in Communication, Advertising, and Design Management. Her undergraduate thesis, The Dialectic of Need vs Want: Communicating Towards Sustainability, and her Master Thesis: The Transmedia Artist as Glocal Nomad both examin the roles of interdisciplinary arts, communication and design in shaping sustainable behavioural and cultural change, a theme that continues to inform her creative and research practice.

With over a decade of international professional experience, Dahms has worked as a singer-songwriter, editor-in-chief, educator, and art and creative director, leading campaigns, performances, and interdisciplinary projects across commercial, cultural, and non-profit sectors. Her work spans print, installation, music, digital media, video, and live performance, with a strong emphasis on innovation, experimentation, and collaborative creative production.

Her practice is informed by extensive engagement with contemporary cultural movements, including music, fashion, visual arts, design, film, social activism, and wellbeing cultures. She applies this cross-sector knowledge to develop concept-driven creative strategies and immersive artistic experiences that translate cultural insight into meaningful public and commercial engagement.

Dahms has collaborated with international organisations and brands including Sony Publishing, NIKE, Palladium, the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, Scotch & Soda, VICE, Diesel, Red Bull Studios, Monki, and multiple social impact organisations including Women for Water Partnership, Young In Prison, Songs for Rights, and Mama Cash.

Her artistic work has been exhibited internationally at institutions and venues including the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, Vondel Pavilion Amsterdam, Design Center De Winkelhaak (Antwerp), Delta Centre for Contemporary Art (The Hague), the Institute for Live Arts Research (Greece), Royal Academy of Art (The Hague), Stadsschouwburg Utrecht, Meneer de With Gallery Amsterdam, WM Gallery Amsterdam, TENT Rotterdam, and Mediamatic Amsterdam.

As a musician and performance artist under the moniker CATA.PIRATA, she has performed at major international festivals and venues including Glastonbury, Sónar Barcelona, The Great Escape, Lowlands, Pinkpop, SXSW, Vive Latino, Exit Festival, and Amsterdam Dance Event, among others. She has produced and released two albums with her band SKIP&DIE (on Crammed Discs) and toured extensively, collaborating with a plethora of international artists. Currently she is producing her debut solo album and shaping an exciting new live show.

Her work is has been featured in international press, including among others, Dazed & Confused (South Korea), Cultural China, Metro (NL), VICE, City Press (South Africa), Istanbul Calling, ELLE (FR/NL), VOGUE (Italy), L’Officiel, Linda Magazine (NL), I-D (NL)

Her research & practice is driven by an ongoing exploration of interactive composition, speculative storytelling, and interdisciplinary collaboration as tools for building imaginative, socially engaged, and culturally responsive artistic environments.

SELECTED CLIENTS
Sony Publishing, NIKE, Palladium, Stedelijk Museum, Scotch&Soda, VICE, Diesel, Red Bull Studios, Press Only, Monki, W.Green, Spice PR, Soroptimists International, Women for Water Partnership, Young In Prison, MaMa Cash, IMA (Influencer Management Agency)

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
Stedelijk Museum (Amsterdam), Vondel Pavilion (Amsterdam), Design Center De Winkelhaak (Antwerp), Delta Centre of Contemporary Art (The Hague), The Institute for Live Arts Research (Greece), Royal Academy of Art (The Hague), Stadsschouwburg (Utrecht), Meneer de With Gallery (Amsterdam), WM Gallery (Amsterdam), TENT (Rotterdam), Mediamatic (Amsterdam)

FEATURED in SELECTED PRESS
Dazed & Confused (South Korea), Cultural China, Metro (NL), VICE, City Press (South Africa), Istanbul Calling, ELLE (FR/NL), VOGUE (Italy), L’Officiel, Linda Magazine (NL), I-D (NL)

SELECTED MUSIC PERFORMANCES
The Great Escape (UK), Glastonbury (UK), Sonar (Barcelona), Lowlands (NL), Pinkpop (NL), Exit (Serbia), Sines (Portugal), Plastic (Milan), La Machine du Moulin Rouge (Paris), Amsterdam Dance Event (NL), RecBeat (Brazil), Rocking the Daisies (South Africa), Vive Latino (Mexico), SXSW (USA)