Volkmar Wenzel is a retired civil servant who lives in Berlin. He was born in Bavaria in 1955 and spent his school years in Würzburg. During his studies in Hamburg and Strasbourg in the 1970s, he was particularly interested in Arab, African and Islamic countries. His economics degree focussed on development policy. After graduating with a degree in political science, he worked at the Federal Foreign Office from 1984 to 2020. His posts abroad also took him to a number of countries that are particularly close to his heart. Among others, he worked in Sudan, Egypt, Syria, Saudi Arabia and Morocco. In addition to his foreign policy work in the narrower sense, his work in the Cultural Department of the Federal Foreign Office was particularly enriching for him because he was able to contribute to the dialogue with the Islamic world and cultural cooperation with many Islamic countries.

Irene Fellmann studied pharmacy in Marburg and Bonn, followed by Islamic studies, Islamic art and Turkish. After working for two years as a research assistant at the Orient Institute in Beirut and Istanbul, she was responsible for international cultural relations at the Conference of Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs for 15 years and was particularly involved in relations with the Islamic world. She was also responsible for the German-language editorial team of the Iranian studies journal "Spektrum Iran" for five years. She then worked in the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development in emergency and transitional aid and at the German embassies in Yemen, Jordan, Burkina Faso and Benin as head of the economic cooperation department. She has been a member of the Freundeskreis since 2009.

Nadia Nagie grew up in a German-Syrian and Christian-Muslim family. She studied Islamic Studies, Education and Geography at the Westfälische Wilhelms University in Münster. Currently she works at Caritasverband für das Erzbistum Berlin e.V. as a counsellor for people with a history of migration and refugee experience. She provides general counselling on participation and inclusion in the migration society. She has been a member of the Friends of the Museum for Islamic Art in the Pergamonmuseum e. V. for many years and has been on its board since 2021.

Philipp Zobel has been associated with the Museum of Islamic Art in various roles for 10 years: As a student of art history, he was part of the Young Nights there and subsequently took over the co-organisation of the programme for several years. Later, he was involved in an intervention of the "Objects of Transfer" project and developed the art and cultural history content for the "Tamam" project, a cooperation between the museum and mosque communities, before becoming part of the team as a volunteer and research assistant for two years after completing his master's degree. He became part of the team for two years as a volunteer and research assistant. He has been involved in the FMIK e.V. as a auditor since 2017 and has now joined the board as associate member. Since 2021, he has been commuting between Berlin and Regensburg, where he supports the Chair of Historical Image Studies (Prof Dr Vera Beyer) at the university as a research assistant. He is writing his doctoral thesis there on historicist ceramics in Cairo from the 1920s to 1940s, the associated question of Islamic art around this time and the socio-political implications of such works in Egypt. On the board, he would like to work on further strengthening the connection between the members and their association, keeping the museum visible to the public during the Pergamon Museum's closure and providing active support for the association as a whole.

Franziska Kabelitz completed an MA in history of art and archaology focused on regions influenced by Islam at the University of London (SOAS). Currently, she works at the Museum for Islamic Art. She has been a member of the extended board since 2023, where she primarily manages the Friends Circle's social media channels. In addition to art history and provenance research, Franziska has a strong interest in cultural policy and academic discourses of relevant fields. She is looking forward to organizing excursions for members and providing insights into the activities and challenges of the museum‘s ongoing relocation in the context of the renovation of the Pergamonmuseum.

Abdurrahman Kulac is a teacher of history, politics, biology and ethics. He has been a member of the Friends' Association since 2021 and a member of the extended board since autumn 2023, supporting the education team in particular. Islamic cultural and intellectual history is one of his main areas of interest.

“My biggest dream is that all pupils, students and teachers in Berlin have seen the Museum of Islamic Art. Visiting our museum, and other museums too, should therefore be an integral part of the curriculum. After all, cultural education simplifies many communication situations in our everyday lives, at work, at school, in the neighbourhood and among friends. It enriches us and enables democratic participation in society.”

After working as an educator in adult education, she worked for more than thirty years as Managing Director of the German-Israeli Society in Bonn and from 1998 in Berlin until 2015. To this day, she is committed to coexistence projects within the framework of the Jerusalem Foundation Germany, of which she has been Managing Director since 1986.

She has been a member of the Friends of the Museum of Islamic Art for many years and has now gladly agreed to contribute her experience as part of the coordination of volunteer work by members and friends and to be available as a contact person. The board will define how the tasks will be organised during the closure of the museum.