Born into a family of painters at Worpswede (D). Drawn to painting, literature and music, she began her studies of stage design at the Deutsches Schauspielhaus, Hamburg.
After a period at the Meisterschule für Graphik , she continued her studies of scenography at the Munich Kunstakademie. She designed stage sets in Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and the former U.S.S.R.
At the same time, drawing on her theatrical experience, Dietlind Bertelsmann expressed herself through painting and graphics, reflections of an inner quest for a language born of silence.
She held several exhibitions in Brussels and abroad.
Dietlind Bertelsmann has been working for some years now on a cycle of spectacle-performances: “Treibgut”. She stages the moving matter of her sculptures, confronting man, the dancer in symbiosis with contemporary music.
The interdisciplinary project gets its unity through to hanging monumental paper sculptures, which suspended and handled, get transformed and transform space.
Her first performance “Treibgut I - adrift”, at the Chapelle des Brigittines (Brussels) comes to light in 1998, parallel to her exhibition, with Carol Vanni (dance) and Dirk Descheemaeker (clarinet).
“Khalal” treibgut 2a is set at the Machine à Eau (Mons, Belgium) in 2002 and 2003 with Claudio Bernardo (dance) and Friedrich Gauwerky (cello).
“Atem” treibgut 2b is created at the BLAC (Brussels) in 2005 with Hisako Horikawa (dance butô), Friedrich Gauwerky (cello), David Nunez (violin) and Christophe Delporte (bayan).
“Shô” treibgut 3 is currently in preparation.