The Hamburger Bahnhof has arrived in the present: New productions and the first institutional exhibitions by eight Berlin and international contemporary artists present themes such as artificial intelligence, indigenous knowledge and collective dreaming to the public. Interactive spaces such as the Rieckhallenatelier intensify the exchange between visitors and art, established admission-free formats such as Berlin Beats and the Open House are entering their third round and the programme for families and schools is being expanded for the youngest visitors. The collection of contemporary art can be expanded through long-term funding.
Image above: Berlin Beats, Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart, 7. Juni 2024 / Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart / Alexander Rentsch
Over the past two years, directors Sam Bardaouil and Till Fellrath have fundamentally reorganised the Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart. With the new presentation on Joseph Beuys and the reopening of the Rieckhallen, the Hamburger Bahnhof’s collection presentations of art from 1989 to the present day are now complete and the museum has arrived in the present. With Klára Hosnedlová, Susan Philipsz, Petrit Halilaj, Annika Kahrs and Saâdane Afif, the 2025 exhibition programme is dedicated to artists living in Berlin and shows international positions by Ayoung Kim, Delcy Morelos and Toyin Ojih Odutola.
Hamburger Bahnhof International Companions e.V., which was founded in October 2023 to promote diversity and inclusion, will also enable the collection to grow in the coming year in addition to programme formats. In 2024, it supported the museum with 3 million euros for exhibitions and programmes and made it possible to expand the collection with works by Elmgren & Dragset, Mona Hatoum and Lee Ufan, among others.
The focus in the coming year will be on expanding the educational and event programmes for the growing audience. The successful free formats such as Berlin Beats, Open House and In Conversation will be continued in 2025.
The dialogue series In Conversation, for example, will host Thomas Demandt and Haegue Yang, among others, in 2025. In addition to the established Volkswagen Group Art4All Family Sundays, a programme for families and schools, some of which is free of charge, will increasingly focus on the younger audience. In addition, 1,000 free guided tours will be offered to exhibition visitors in 2025. This will continue and further expand the free events programme with which Hamburger Bahnhof 2024 reached around 100,000 people in addition to the exhibition audience with Berlin Beats, the Open House, the In Conversation series and free summer workshops for children and young people.
With new programme lines such as the cooperation with the Literaturhaus Berlin, the museum is opening up new cultural fields and audiences. Art and literature meet in the ‘Crossroads’ series of events: authors meet painters, sculptors meet writers, multimedia artists meet poets; their paths cross in the museum. The Rieckhallen at Hamburger Bahnhof are more than just a space for viewing art – they are a place to linger, create and share experiences.
The Rieckhallenatelier offers a space where encounters take place and new ideas are born. Groups can work creatively here undisturbed, but individual visitors are also welcome to take a creative break during their tour. The various areas of the Rieckhallenatelier also enable innovative formats for schools, which can be booked immediately via the Museumsdienst Berlin.
Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart / Alexander Rentsch
Sam Bardaouil and Till Fellrath, directors of the Hamburger Bahnhof: ‘The museum will become a lively place where art and the public are in direct dialogue. With innovative mediation formats in the exhibitions, spontaneous encounters with art and over 100 days full of extraordinary events, every visit will be an experience. The audience takes centre stage and the diverse programme invites voices from all directions to enter into dialogue with each other.’
The exhibition programme begins in February with Ayoung Kim (born 1979). Her first solo exhibition in a German museum showcases a decade of her artistic practice. In her works, the artist uses video, VR, AI, game simulations and sonic fiction as a means of speculative storytelling and thematises migration, xenophobia, queerness as well as bio- and geopolitical issues. The exhibition in Kabinett Ost deals with the symbiosis between data, people and the planet (28 February – 20 July 2025).
From April, Klára Hosnedlová (born 1990) will be performing in the historic hall with a monumental installation that revolves around home, utopias and everyday life in different political systems. Impressions from post-communist architecture, films and novels and the futuristic images of her performative interventions currently being carried out at various locations in East and West Berlin form the starting point. The expansive, sculptural scenery consists of flax fibres, embroidery, cast glass, sandstone, iron and concrete slabs. With Hosnedlová, the Hamburger Bahnhof is once again presenting a young artist who pushes the boundaries of sculpture in the main hall as part of the Gallery Weekend (25.4. – 26.10.2025).
Hosnedlová
In June, Hamburger Bahnhof celebrates its 3rd admission-free Open House (13-15 June 2025) weekend, which also marks the start of the 3rd edition of the open-air DJ series Berlin Beats. To mark the occasion, Scottish sound artist Susan Philipsz (born 1965) is developing a new sound installation for the ‘Infinite Exhibition’ in the courtyard of the Hamburger Bahnhof, in which she explores the location and its history. The ‘Infinite Exhibition’ thus comprises 21 installations, interventions and sculptures that are permanent components of the museum’s interior and exterior spaces and part of the Hamburger Bahnhof collection (from 13 June 2025).
From June, the first solo exhibition in Germany by Delcy Morelos (born 1967) will present a new, expansive installation that explores the themes of the earth, indigenous knowledge, regeneration and the connection between nature and humanity. In doing so, Morelos explores the actions, sculptures and environments of Joseph Beuys, which can be seen in the permanent exhibition (13 June 2025 – 11 January 2026).
Installationsansicht. Dia Chelsea, New York, Recycelte Gartenerde, Ton aus Dia Beacon,
Kokosfaser, Heu, Zimt, Nelke, Copaiba-Öl, Eco Tackifier, Wasser und Duftstoff. © Delcy
Morelos, Marian Goodman Gallery / Don Stahl
On display from July are the figurative multimedia drawings of Toyin Ojih Odutola (born 1985), known for her detailed exploration of identity and visual storytelling. The figures serve as a means of exploring a person’s character and personal history, with the theme of travelling or transporting the self being a recurring motif. By engaging with local collections, Odutola’s exhibition explores themes of representation, identity and personal histories (11.7.2025 – 25.1.2026).
Petrit Halilaj (born 1986) will be showing his first major institutional solo exhibition in Berlin from September. In addition to drawings, sculptures and installations, new, site-specific works will be exhibited. The focus is on an expansive, participatory installation that explores the potential of collective dreaming to create open, emancipatory worlds (5.9.2025 – 31.5.2026).
In November, Berlin-based artist Annika Kahrs (born 1984) opens the most extensive selection of her works to date. In her videos, sound installations and performances, she explores the border areas of music. Kahrs explores the cultural and social functions of music as well as its communicative dimensions and formal structures. The exhibition is divided into three artistic components: Live performance, film/video, sound/music. Working with music as material and collaborating with people from different fields and disciplines are integral parts of her art (14.11.2025 – 3.5.2026).
Installation, 24:30 min, Auftrag für die 16. Ausgabe der Biennale de Lyon © Annika Kahrs /
Produzentengalerie Hamburg
The last exhibition of the year in December is dedicated to the artist Saâdane Afif (born 1970). At the centre is the multi-part work ‘The Fountain Archives’ (2008-2022), which was donated to the Nationalgalerie in 2023 and will be presented to the public for the first time at Hamburger Bahnhof. In the form of an artistic archive project, Afif has traced the history of the reception of Marcel Duchamp’s legendary readymade ‘Fountain’ from 1917. The exhibition shows this work, dedicated to a prominent chapter in 20th century art history, together with other works by the artist that question the institution of the art museum with depth and subtle humour (12.12.2025 – 16.8.2026).
Silvana Editoriale will publish an exhibition catalogue for each of the solo exhibitions planned for 2025 in the Hamburger Bahnhof publication series (12 euros). In addition to a curatorial introduction, the catalogues contain detailed interviews with the artists, an external text contribution and numerous illustrations, including exhibition views. The Hamburger Bahnhof publication series, which has been appearing since 2022, thus comprises a total of 18 issues.
WHEN?
Programme:
Ayoung Kim: Sunday, 28 February – Sunday, 20 July 2025
Klára Hosnedlová: Friday, 25.04. – Sunday, 26.10.2025
Delcy Morelos: Friday, 13.06.2025 – Sunday, 11.01.2026
Susan Philipsz: from Friday, 13/06/2025
Toyin Ojih Odutola: Friday, 11.07.2025 – Sunday, 25.01.2026
Petrit Halilaj: Friday, 05.09.2025 – Saturday, 31.05.2026
Annika Kahrs: Friday, 14.11.2025 – Saturday, 03.05.2026
Saâdane Afif: Friday, 12.12.2025 – Sunday, 16.08.2026
WHERE?
Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart
Invalidenstraße 50
10557 Mitte-Berlin
