Hamburger Bahnhof

The exhibition is curated by Sam Bardaouil and Till Fellrath, directors of the Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart, Catherine Nichols, curator at the Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart.

The Hamburger Bahnhof presents a multi-layered panorama of Berlin's art scene and the city itself, spanning from the threshold of the opening of the Berlin Wall through to the present. With the new presentation of the collection in the west wing, the Hamburger Bahnhof invites the public to reflect on the role of art and cultural institutions in fostering inclusion, engagement and social transformation.

Some 80 artworks, including paintings, works on paper, sculptures, photographs and videos, explore the sociopolitical and economic factors that have shaped the city and the artistic practices to have emerged from within it. Sibylle Bergemann, Rainer Fetting, Isa Genzken, Mona Hatoum, Emeka Ogboh, Anri Sala, Selma Selman, Isaac Chong Wai and Ruth Wolf-Rehfeldt are among the 60 artists included in the display.

For the first time, the Nationalgalerie’s contemporary art holdings will enter into a long-term exchange with the art collection of the German Federal Government and the collection of the ifa – Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations. The exhibition will be further enriched by a selection of significant new acqui-sitions. Familiar major works will be shown alongside others that have rarely, if ever, been shown before.

Forum Hamburger Bahnhof

As microcosm of Berlin, the Hamburger Bahnhof has many stories to tell. An era-defining railway station in the mid-19th century, the building has continually adapted to changing historical circumstances. Having served as a museum for building and transport in the early 20th century, World War II left the building, situated as it was on the demarcation line between East and West Berlin, in ruins. In the 1980s it became an artists’ squat before evolving into a pop-up exhibition space after the opening of the Berlin Wall. It was not until 1996 that it became a site of the Nationalgalerie. Located between the bookshop and the presentation of the collection in the west wing, "Forum Hamburger Bahnhof" presents objects and archival materials from 1848 to the present. Chapter by chapter it reappraises and retells the station’s history. The archival exhibition is complemented by a space for participatory and discursive programmes, including film interviews with people associated with the Hamburger Bahnhof from the 1980s through to the present. As a place for assembly, debate and transformation, the Forum invites members of the public to join in thinking about all that the museum has been and might become. Admission to the "Forum Ham-burger Bahnhof" and its events is free.

Curated by Sam Bardaouil and Till Fellrath, directors of the Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart, Luisa Bachmann, curatorial assistant at the Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart, Claudia Ehgartner, curator for Education, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin – Preußischer Kulturbesitz, Kristina Schrei, curator at the Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart, with Anna Bründl, Federico Del Río Lewien, Lea Jedynak, Chrysoula Kalpakidou, Lea Weckert

Endless Exhibition
More than 15 installations, sculptures and interventions have been set up in and around the Hamburger Bahnhof since it opened as a museum of contemporary art in 1996. These include Dan Flavin's striking blue and green light installation on the façade of the main building as well as works by Tom Fecht, Urs Fischer, John Knight and Gregor Schneider. Some of the works are more visible than others. The “Endless Exhibition” enables visitors to explore the artworks and to reflect on their relevance for the collection today – through public tours, a dedicated publication and website. Each year the “Endless Exhibition” will be expanded by a newly commissioned work of art that is to be permanently acquired for the collection of the Nationalgalerie. Berlin-based artist Judith Hopf, whose installation and sculptural work deals with social definitions and power relations, will kick off this important expansion of the collection.

Conceived by Sam Bardaouil and Till Fellrath, directors of the Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart, curated by Alice Koegel, Head of Exhibitions and Curator at the Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart