Hi, I'm Sylwester, Katharina's partner. I'm writing this together with her, and with help from some of her closest friends.

If you've ever been inside one of Katharina's sound installations — in a water reservoir, an old brewery, a hammam, a church — you probably know what makes her work special. She has a way of making you hear a place differently.

For years, she has been part of Berlin's sound art and modular synth community as an artist, performer, cultural organizer and teacher. She has made installations, played live, taught workshops, taken part in festivals, curated events and festivals involving other artists and spent a lot of time helping other people find their own way into sound.

Right now, she needs some help herself.

What happened

In April, Katharina was involved in an accident. During the medical examinations that followed, doctors made a devastating and completely unexpected discovery that was unrelated to the accident: two proximal brain aneurysms. One of them is approximately 2 cm (20 mm) in size, which classifies it as a giant intracranial aneurysm. Aneurysms of this size carry a significant risk of rupture, which can have catastrophic, life-threatening consequences. She hasn't been able to work for the past three months.

They had been there without anyone knowing.

In a strange way, finding them when we did was incredibly lucky. Without the accident and the scans that followed, we might never have known.

The aneurysms are unusually large and her case is atypical. After a number of consultations, the doctors were clear that they need to be treated.

On August 24, Katharina will have surgery to treat both aneurysms at the same time. It is a complex bypass operation. The surgeons will take a blood vessel from her arm or leg and use it to reroute blood flow in her brain around the aneurysms, which are located behind her eye.

It is a major operation, and recovery will take time.

We are scared, of course. But we are also hopeful. Katharina is in very good hands, and the reason for doing this now is to give her the best possible chance of a healthy future.

The months afterwards will be difficult. She is expected to spend weeks in hospital and rehabilitation, followed by a long period of recovery at home. For quite some time she won't be able to work, perform, teach, or carry the equipment that is normally such a big part of her life. Every performance, workshop and commission she had planned for the coming months has had to be cancelled.

Why we're asking for help

The good news is that her health insurance covers the operation itself.

The difficult part is everything around it.

A recovery like this comes with many costs that insurance doesn't cover, or doesn't cover fully. For weeks after the surgery, Katharina won't be allowed to lift, carry or bend down — which means she will need helping hands at home every day, for the household and for her healing process. On top of that come additional therapies, transport to and from the hospital and rehabilitation, medical co-payments, and all the smaller expenses that add up over a long recovery.

Katharina is a freelance artist, so there is no employer standing behind her while she heals — it's her community. That's you.

And there is something that matters a lot to her: her studio. It isn't just a room where she keeps equipment. It's where she works, teaches and experiments, and returning to it healthy is one of the things she is holding on to through all of this.

What your support would help with

- Additional rehabilitation and therapies beyond what her insurance covers

- Help around the household during the months she cannot lift, carry or bend

- Transport to and from the hospital, rehabilitation and follow-up appointments

- Medical co-payments for hospital, rehab and medication

- Aids and small adaptations that make recovering at home easier

- The later stages of her rehabilitation on her way back to full health

If we raise more than Katharina needs for the immediate recovery, everything will go towards the later stages of her rehabilitation.

We'll keep updating this page as we go — before the operation, after surgery, and throughout the recovery.

How you can help

If you can donate, thank you. Really. Whatever the amount, it helps.

And if you can't donate, sharing this with friends, colleagues or your community is just as valuable. Katharina has spent years supporting other people's work and helping other people find their voice and their sound.

Now we'd like to help carry her for a while.

With love and gratitude