Hamburger Bahnhof - Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart – serie

In Collapsed Time, Christina Quarles (Chicago, 1985) shows an installation that occupies the entire exhibition space and exhibits her paintings alongside works from the Nationalgalerie collection.Quarles confronts several decades of diverse forms of artistic practices, from photography and sculpture to video and performance, that have dealt with notions of physical and psychological confinement, and their impact on the representation of the human body. The formal language of Quarles’ paintings explores the experience of living in a racialised, queer body. Her figures contend with the boundaries of identity, as they intervene with complex patterns and planes.The catalogue features a curatorial essay by Sam Bardaouil and Till Fellrath, an extended interview with Christina Quarles and a contribution by Jillian Hernandez, Associate Professor at the Center for Gender, Sexualities, and Women’s Studies Research, University of Florida, USA.Text in English and German.

Nadia Kaabi-Linke. Seeing Without Light features a selection of artworks by the Berlin-based artist spanning more than two decades. Through paintings, works on paper, sculptures, photographs, and mixed-media installations Kaabi-Linke confronts historical erasure, and explores the hidden traces of violence that don't noticeably shape our understanding of the past and the present. For her solo exhibition at Hamburger Bahnhof, the artist created a new video and sound installation that was shot in Ukraine in the spring of 2023. Titled Bud’mo (a popular Ukrainian toast that loosely translates to “let us be”), the work is a poetic yet sobering acknowledgment of tragedies perpetrated by man and of cycles of life and death. Central to the exhibition is Blindstrom for Kazimir (2023), a conceptual installation that refers to a number of paintings, now preserved at the National Art Museum of Ukraine in Kyiv, which were censored and confiscated by Soviet intelligence during the 1930s. Through this work, the artist examines the role of censorship and violence in Central Europe’s art and political history.This is the third in a series of publications accompanying solo exhibitions of contemporary artists at Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart. It comprises a curatorial text by Sam Bardaouil, an interview with the artist by co-curator Daria Prydybailo, and a contribution by Paul Ardenne that situates Nadia Kaabi-Linke’s work within a larger context.Text in English and German.

Naama Tsabar’s art overcomes the boundaries of sculpture, music, performance and architecture: Hamburger Bahnhof presents the installation and performance artist with her first institutional solo exhibition in Germany.The exhibition Estuaries focuses on four bodies of work with wall and floor pieces that also function as musical instruments and can be activated by the audience. The performance, created especially in the exhibition, is developed in close collaboration with a group of female identifying or gender non-confirming musicians and dancers from Berlin, New York and Los Angeles and will be premiered on the opening weekend. The exhibition presents on about 420 sqm four series of over twenty works that correspond with each other both visually and sonically throughout the exhibition space. Naama Tsabar reveals hidden spaces and systems in her interactive works, re-defining gendered narratives and shifting the viewing experience to a moment of active participation.This is the fourth in a series of publications accompanying solo exhibitions of contemporary artists at Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart. It comprises a curatorial text by Ingrid Buschmann, an interview with the artist, and a contribution by Fiona McGovern that situates Naama Tsabar’s work within a larger context.Text in English and German.

Eva Fàbregas. Devouring Lovers introduces the work of Barcelona-based artist Eva Fàbregas on the occasion of her largest solo exhibition to date. Eva Fàbregas takes over the historical hall of Hamburger Bahnhof with a monumental, site-specific installation that expands the boundaries of sculpture, inviting visitors to a sensual, spatial experience. Biomorphous sculptures transform the museum’s architecture, which is characterised by industrial iron girders, into an organically grown space, blurring the borders between technically generated, and the human and non-human worlds.This is the second in a series of publications accompanying solo exhibitions of contemporary artists at Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart. It comprises a curatorial text by Anna-Catharina Gebbers, a comprehensive interview with the artist, and essay contributions by Paul B. Preciado and Daisy Lafarge situating Eva Fàbregas’s work within a larger context.Text in English and German.

Andrea Pichl focuses on norms and standards in everyday architecture, working with the societal ideas reflected in these guidelines. In her exhibition Wertewirtschaft / Values of Economy, she examines the exchange of money and goods between East and West Germany during the German division and afterwards.Pichl removes items and spaces from their original context and scrutinises them: Which image of humanity and notion of social coexistence imbue them? How do invisible structures such as state power, flows of capital and historical upheaval manifest themselves? Where does the public sphere end and the private one begin? When does a utopian vision turn into dystopian reality?This is the ninth edition of a series of publications accompanying solo exhibitions of contemporary artists at Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart. It comprises a curatorial essay by Sven Beckstette, an interview with the artist, and a contribution by Peter Richter that situates Andrea Pichl’s work within a larger context.Text in English and German.

Alexandra Pirici’s new, expansive work Attune explores the ways in which we – and our more-than-human counterparts – resemble, influence, and attune to one another to bring forth complex structures.Transforming the vast historic hall of Hamburger Bahnhof into a vibrant imaginary landscape, Pirici interweaves active sculptural elements with live performance and musical pieces of her own choreography and composition. In this immersive, at once archaic and futuristic environment, in which chemical reactions, mineral formations, and physical phenomena perform alongside living bodies, the wonder of self-structuring matter comes to the fore.This is the fifth in a series of publications accompanying solo exhibitions of contemporary artists at Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart. It comprises a curatorial essay by Catherine Nichols, an interview with the artist by Raluca Voinea, and a contribution by Cecilia Alemani that situates Alexandra Pirici’s work within a larger context.Text in English and German.

Mark Bradford’s expansive artistic practice is firmly rooted in the dynamics of movement within the prism of racial identity. It embodies an unyielding quest for liberation, where the ceaseless rhythms of bodies become both a testament to oppression and an assertion of resilience.Through textured canvases, satirical videos, and sculptural installations imbued with layers of history and social critique, Bradford disrupts established narratives, urging contemplation on the intricate interplay of identity and societal frameworks. Emerging from the vibrant tapestry of Los Angeles, his art transcends aesthetics to probe deeply into the socio-political terrain, fostering a profound dialogue on the complexities inherent in contemporary society.This is the eighth in a series of publications accompanying solo exhibitions of contemporary artists at Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart. It comprises a curatorial essay by Sam Bardaouil, an interview with Mark Bradford, and a compilation of selected text excerpts from previous exhibition catalogues on the artist.Text in English and German.

Marianna Simnett’s WINNER is a multichannel film installation, conceived as a three-act dance for film told through the lens of football. It is commissioned on the occasion of the 2024 European Football Championship, hosted by Germany. WINNER echoes the dramaturgy of the game and dissects its socially constructed power hierarchies, crowd psychology, and constant pressure to perform. Through the element of dance, the work restages and radically transforms football’s most impassioned moments: elation and triumph, brutality and ferocity, suffering and defeat. Simnett’s vivid hallucinatory world extends beyond the screen into the exhibition space, subverting the architecture of football and transporting it into the museum.This is the sixth in a series of publications accompanying solo exhibitions of contemporary artists at Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart. It comprises a curatorial essay by Charlotte Knaup, an extensive interview with the artist by Sam Bardaouil, and Graham Greene’s short story “The Destructors”, elements of which Marianna Simnett used for WINNER.Text in English and German.

In 2024, the Preis der Nationalgalerie goes to Pan Daijing, Dan Lie, Hanne Lippard, and James Richards, the first time the award has gone to four artists. This new format for presenting the award looks at the exhibition as a collective conversation, seeking to expand the collection of the Nationalgalerie through the acquisition of four new productions. The prize-winners produce new works which will then be shown in this joint exhibition at Hamburger Bahnhof. Pan Daijing works with sound, performance, installation, choreography and film, the art of Dan Lie addresses questions of ecology and non-human life forms, Hanne Lippard primarily uses her voice as her artistic medium, while the film-maker James Richards combines experimental techniques with a finely tuned sense for spatial arrangement.This is the seventh in a series of publications accompanying presentations of contemporary artists at Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart. It comprises a curatorial essay by Sam Bardaouil, an extensive interview with the artists by Agnes Rameder, as well as essay contributions by Tom Engels on Pan Daijing, Wong Binghao (Bing) on Dan Lie, Estelle Hoy on Hanne Lippard and Kristian Vistrup Madsen on James Richards.Text in English and German.

Petrit Halilaj presents his first major institutional solo exhibition in Berlin at Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart. In addition to sculptures, installations and a video, new site-specific works are showcased.At the heart of the exhibition is the artist’s first opera, which explores the potential of collective dreaming to bring forth emancipatory worlds. The Berlin-based artist Petrit Halilaj creates complex works that provide space for freedom, lon­ging, intimacy and identity. His art is deeply connected to the history of his home country, Kosovo, and the cultural and political tensions in the region.This is the fourteenth in a series of publications accompanying solo exhibitions of contemporary artists at Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart. In addition to exhibition views and images of artworks, it comprises a curato­rial introduction by Catherine Nichols, an extensive interview by Amy Zion with Petrit Halilaj as well as an essay by Lura Limani.Text in English and German.

Berlin-based artist Annika Kahrs presents the most comprehensive selection of her works to date at Hamburger Bahnhof, exploring the intersection of art and music. Kahrs investigates the cultural and social functions of music: in an abandoned church in Lyon, at the parade of a cross-generational orchestra in an Italian village or in Berlin department stores. The exhibition features more than 10 video works, sound installations, and performances from the past 15 years, displayed in selected locations throughout Hamburger Bahnhof and in public space. A performance series on the occasion of the exhibition and celebrating the museum’s 30th anniversary will take place at Musikinstrumenten-Museum, at Medizinhistorisches Museum der Charité [Medical History Museum of the Charité Hospital] and at Heilige-Geist-Kirche [Church of the Holy Spirit] in February 2026.This is the 15th in a series of publications accompanying solo exhibitions of contemporary artists at Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart. In addition to exhibition views and images of artworks, it comprises a curatorial introduction by Ingrid Buschmann, an extensive interview by Philipp Lange with Annika Kahrs as well as a text by Susanne Pfeffer.Text in English and German.

Toyin Ojih Odutola transforms Hamburger Bahnhof’s east cabinet into “Adijatu Straße,” a station on the fictional U22 underground line, in order to thematise the interplay of movement and history. Her narrative portraits trace the lives of various characters and incorporate every day or monumental settings, often interwoven with architectural details. Shaped by the artist’s upbringing as a West African woman in the Southern United States, Ojih Odutola’s work examines social and political dynamics through the vehicle of skin, the fluidity of expression, and the meaning of darkness and light. The artist’s first solo exhibition in Germany shows 25 works drawn on paper, board and linen.This is the 12th in a series of publications accompanying solo exhibitions of contemporary artists at Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart. In addition to exhibition views and images of artworks, it comprises a curato­rial introduction by Emily Finkelstein, an extensive interview by Sam Bardaouil with Toyin Ojih Odutola as well as an essay by Leigh Raiford.Text in English and German.

Ayoung Kim’s first solo exhibition in a German museum spans over the most recent years of her artistic practice. Using artificial intelligence, virtual reality, video, game simulations, sculpture and sonic fiction, Kim creates expansive fictional universes with their own temporal and spatial laws.Her works are often linked together by speculative narratives that are still connected to the actual world that we live in.The viewers themselves are transformed into first person players, controlling the narrative from their own point of view. Her subjects are humans, mythological beings and virtual entities who cross the boundaries between different possible realities, making possible and impossible worlds collide across different times and spaces.The exhibition at Hamburger Bahnhof not only enables its audiences to enter Kim’s virtual landscapes but also extends those into the museum space where visitors can lose and re-encounter themselves over and over again.This is the tenth in a series of publications accompanying solo exhibitions of contemporary artists at Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart. It comprises a curatorial introduction by Charlotte Knaup, an interview with Ayoung Kim by Sam Bardaouil, as well as two webtoons by the artists 1172 and cosmos.Text in English and German.

Starting point of Shilpa Gupta’s solo exhibition at Hamburger Bahnhof is the monumental work Truth, situated at the intersection of language, power and control. As visitors move between the oversized letters within the exhibition space, the artwork questions the mechanisms that preserve or obscure truth. Complemented by additional works by the artist, Gupta’s exhibition at Hamburger Bahnhof is presented in dialogue with the museum’s display of works by Joseph Beuys. This parallel presentation highlights similarities in their approaches to language, participation and social reflection. As part of the anniversary programme, the exhibition underscores artistic exchange as a central theme of Hamburger Bahnhof since the museum’s founding.This is the 18th in a series of publications accompanying solo exhibitions of contemporary artists at Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart. In addition to exhibition views and images of artworks, it comprises a curatorial introduction by Sam Bardaouil, an extensive interview by Ulya Soley with Shilpa Gupta as well as an essay by Nancy Adajania.Text in English and German.

With her participatory installation We Make Years Out of Hours, Lina Lapelytė transforms the historic hall of Hamburger Bahnhof into a space for collective action and singing as part of the second CHANEL Commission. Lapelytė is known for her meditative works, which combine sound, rituals and collaborative practice. We Make Years Out of Hours is a living monument to time, care and coexistence. The exhibition transcends boundaries between sculpture and performance, the individual and the collective. By actively involving the audience, the participatory format emphasises the concept of the open museum as the theme of the Hamburger Bahnhof’s 30th anniversary. The CHANEL Commission at Hamburger Bahnhof is an annual initiative that enables artists to realise large-scale projects.This is the 19th in a series of publications accompanying solo exhibitions of contemporary artists at Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart. In addition to exhibition views and images of artworks, it comprises a curatorial introduction by Sam Bardaouil, an extensive interview by Raimundas Malašauskas with Lina Lapelytė, poems by Defne Ayas, Lucia Pietroiusti and Asia Bazdyrieva as well as the libretto for the performances.Text in English and German.

Giulia Andreani opens the exhibition programme marking the 30th anniversary of Hamburger Bahnhof, presenting paintings that expose fractures within official histories. Andreani’s artistic practice of “painting with photographs” thrives on the tension between authoritarian figures and forgotten characters of the past. The starting point for the figurative, monochromatic paintings whose Payne’s grey tones recall historical photographs is found in family albums or archives. Her images reveal hidden narratives, address collective forgetting, and open up new layers of meaning for the present.The exhibition at Hamburger Bahnhof is her first institutional solo show in Germany. This is the 17th in a series of publications accompanying solo exhibitions of contemporary artists at Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart. In addition to exhibition views and images of artworks, it comprises a curatorial introduction by Sam Bardaouil, an extensive interview by Cecilia Alemani with Giulia Andreani as well as an essay by Ludovic Delalande.Text in English and German.

[ materialistin ]. Matter of Care, Care of Matter presents sculptures and site-specific installations by eight sculptors based in Leipzig: Laura Eckert, Enne Haehnle, Elisabeth Howey, Lucy König, Agnes Lammert, Wibke Rahn, Theresa Rothe and Sophie Uchman. The focus of [ materialistin ]’s work and practice lies in the expanded field of sculpture.The artists work with steel, stone, plaster and concrete, plant fibres and renewable raw materials, wax and clay.The group operates in solidarity and is not organised hierarchically. The members counter the physical, economic and logistical challenges in the field of sculpture by sharing experiential knowledge, tools, contacts and networks.The cross-generational structure represents a unique feature within the art world. [ materialistin ]’s group exhibition at Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart highlights new forms of collective practice and solidarity.It is a statement that, in its anniversary year, extends far beyond the museum.This is the 20th in a series of publications accompanying exhibitions of contemporary artists at Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart. In addition to exhibition views and images of artworks, it comprises a curatorial introduction by Sam Bardaouil, a roundtable discussion with all artists moderated by Sarah Alberti and texts on the individual positions by Silvia Gaetti, Jenny Graser, Luisa Heese, Annabelle Hirsch, Annekathrin Kohout, Dietmar Rübel, Christian Schüle and Susanne Witzgall.Text in English and German.

Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart is presenting the first comprehensive retrospective of the Turkish painter and opera singer Semiha Berksoy (1910–2004) in Germany. Berksoy studied at the Hochschule für Musik [Music Academy] in Berlin from 1936 to 1939, and enjoyed a distinguished career as a visual artist and an opera singer. Spanning over six decades, the exhibition focusses on Berksoy’s connection with Berlin, and explores the intersection of her two passions, emphasising her unique, spontaneous, and bold approach to painting. It introduces central themes in Berksoy’s practice: the attachment to her mother, the painter Fatma Saime, the ideological ties with Turkish cultural figures such as poet Nâzım Hikmet, her iconic opera roles, and the places and events that defined her prolific career. With more than 80 paintings and works on paper, along with a wide array of archival documents, film clips, and sound recordings, the exhibition highlights Berksoy’s significant impact on the cultural landscape in Türkiye and beyond.This is the second edition of a series of publications accompanying major retrospectives of contemporary artists at Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart. It comprises a number of new and historical texts on Semiha Berksoy, reproductions of all works exhibited as well as installation shots.Text in English and German.