Nicolaus Schafhausen (DE) was curator and director at Witte de With from 2006 to 2012. During his tenure at Witte de With, Schafhausen was also engaged in several international projects: In 2010, he was co-curator of the Media City Seoul 2010 Biennial in South Korea; in 2008, he was co-curator of the first Brussels Biennial; and he was appointed curator of the German Pavilion at both the 52nd and 53rd Venice Bienniale in 2007 and 2009.

Prior to coming to Witte de With, Schafhausen was founding director of the European Kunsthalle in Cologne, Germany (2005-2007). He was also curator at The Nordic Institute for Contemporary Art (NIFCA) in Helsinki (2003-2005); as well as director of the Frankfurter Kunsteverein (1999-2005); and artistic director of the Künstelerhaus Stuttgart (1995-1998). In 2003, Schafhausen was awarded the Hessian State Prize for Culture.
Currently, he is a also member of various advisory boards, such as the Ursula Blickle Foundation, Germany; HIAP – Helsinki International Artist Programme, Finland.

As of October 2012, Schafhausen is the new artistic director of KUNSTHALLE Wien, Vienna.