The Art of Never Standing Still – Hamburger Bahnhof

CH Thirty years, countless transformations. When Hamburger Bahnhof opened in 1996, Berlin was undergoing a profound cultural transformation. Since then, the museum has established itself as a major international institution for contemporary art. Looking back over these three decades, which exhibitions, artistic encounters or pivotal decisions have most significantly shaped its development? And which of its original ambitions remain relevant today?

SB & CK
SB: It would be hard to name single artists or exhibitions. There were many groundbreaking shows especially in the Historic Hall. The most crucial decision might be the acquisition of the buildings in 2022 by the Federal State and the Land Berlin from private ownership. Since then, Hamburger Bahnhof and our work stand on solid ground.
CK: Many visitors, artists and people who have worked with the museum hold memories of Hamburger Bahnhof. You can find some of these in our Forum, which is accessible free of charge. The museum has created many important encounters for people of different ages. I like that many of them claim ownership of the museum and consider it a part of their own history with the city or with art itself. Continuing to foster these encounters is definitely an ambition that remains ever relevant.
SB: When Hamburger Bahnhof opened in 1996, all artistic media from painting to sculpture to video art were mixed in the exhibition. Furthermore, there was a diverse program with concerts and performances. This concept of artistic expansion was already there at the very beginning. And Hamburger Bahnhof follows this path until today.

CH Can a museum capture a city that never stands still? Berlin's cultural landscape has been continuously reinvented since reunification. With A Thousand Times Berlin, Hamburger Bahnhof explores the city's artistic developments from 1989 to the present. What narratives do we encounter and how do these histories collide?

SB & CK
CK: There is a beautiful commonality between the city and the museum; both are in constant motion, and within that motion also intertwined with each other. The artworks in the exhibition tell these stories of constant change from different perspectives: some stories are deeply personal and speak of experiences of movement, displacement and belonging, like Danh Võ’s flower series Untitled 2022, others anchor us in our recent history, like Robert Rauschenberg’s German Stroll, 1990, and some works touch on migration, globalization, and how history continues to define the present from a wider perspective, for example Andreas Gursky’s Singapore Stock Exchange I, 1997 or Katharina Sieverding‘s Deutschland wird Deutscher (Germany is becoming more German), 1992. These narratives collide and merge with each other and offer a kaleidoscope of perspectives on the city that is never static. This is also true for the whole museum: while we create moments of stillness and reflection, Hamburger Bahnhof, just like the city, never stands still and constantly reinvents itself.

CH What happens when a museum never sleeps? To mark its anniversary, Hamburger Bahnhof will remain open for 30 consecutive hours, offering free admission alongside performances, films, guided tours and overnight activities. What inspired this unusual format, and what possibilities emerge when the conventional rules of a museum visit are temporarily suspended?

SB & CK
SB: Every June, we invite the public to an Open House weekend with free entry during our usual hours. For the 30th anniversary the idea was to do something special and open the museum for 30 hours consecutively. Of course, it is always fascinating to visit places at times when they are usually closed like swimming pools, department stores and museums. At night, the area around Hamburger Bahnhof is very different and also our mood has changed. In the morning, the sun rises and the light comes out again. How will this affect our view on art? Do we move differently through the museum at night? Will people even take a nap and start their day at Hamburger Bahnhof? We are curious to find out.
CK: With formats like this in our programmes and in our exhibition, a great joy lies in the constant questioning of rules that appear fixed. When we commit ourselves to testing those rules again and again, Hamburger Bahnhof becomes a site of experimentation for artists and our visitors alike. We are excited to spend these 30 hours together.

CH The art of remembering. Sophie Calle's first solo exhibition in Berlin in 25 years opens during the anniversary celebrations. Her work explores memory, absence and the relationship between personal experience and collective narratives. How does the show translate to a Berlin context and the specific context of Hamburger Bahnhof?

SB & CK
SB: Sophie Calle came to Berlin in 1996 to create works reflecting the situation after the fall of the Wall. One of these pieces in which she refers to the demolition of the Palast der Republik is part of our collection. In her upcoming show at Hamburger Bahnhof she will look back and reflect on the changes that happened since then. One work she conceived especially for our show will also deal with the history of our building as a former train station, expanding her view even deeper in the past.

CH A collection that never stands still. As a Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart, Hamburger Bahnhof preserves artworks and artistic histories while remaining responsive to new developments. How would you describe this challenge and how do you decide which work enters the collection?

SB & CK
SB: As a museum for contemporary art we are constantly challenged by the artists we work with. We are confronted with the questions they raise in their works and are kept updated by the media they choose. This is particularly true for our collection. With every new work entering, there is a slight shift in the nature of the collection. So, there is automatically a change through the works we acquire. Therefore, we discuss and consider carefully which work would be a great addition. In the end, it is a commitment to take care of this work for future generations. We conceived certain categories on which we base our decisions. This helps us to strengthen our collection profile.
CK: We are building an archive of the future, which may sound like a contradiction, but from this seemingly paradoxical challenge emerge the questions that we continue to ask: what are the artistic, social and political questions of our time? What artistic positions are forming that we may not have developed a fixed language for? How might we look back on today in another 30, 50 or 100 years?

CH Is the museum as we know it becoming obsolete? The symposium Post Discipline addresses the future of contemporary art museums through art history, collection care and public engagement. Which traditional structures or practices do you believe have become inadequate, and how might rethinking them strengthen the museum's role in an open, democratic society?

SB & CK
SB: The rising visitor numbers of Hamburger Bahnhof and the constantly high frequency of visitors in other art museums in Germany indicate that museums are not obsolete. In society, museums are seen as trustworthy institutions as a study in 2024 found out. What might have changed is the attitude of museums. In the past, museums collected to display an artistic canon of so-called masterpieces. This canon-building of course meant exclusion for a lot of artists. Today, luckily, it is the idea of a canon that is obsolete and collections became far more open, fluid and diverse. Another aspect that changed is the relationship to our audience. In its most recent definition ICOM stated that museums should be more participatory and engage with communities. At Hamburger Bahnhof we support this idea and founded an advisory board with members of our neighborhood.
CK: In questioning what may need rethinking in the definition of the museum, we are also questioning how knowledge is generated. Who is ‘we’ and what is it that we assume we know about what a museum should do or how it should function? By opening this discussion up to non-dominant narratives and definitions, we can also challenge ourselves and the ground rules we operate by.

CH Beyond the exhibition space. A new digital platform launching in November will make the museum's discursive content freely accessible. What is the curatorial vision behind this initiative, and how might it change the ways audiences engage with the ideas and research produced at Hamburger Bahnhof?

SB & CK
CK: Our new digital platform is another step in making Hamburger Bahnhof and, in this case, the academic discourse we produce here more accessible and visible. Existing catalogue essays, videos from performances or other selected content will be grouped under a certain theme. We will also commission new pieces to broaden the perspective. With two thematic issues that come out every year, we can take research questions and topics that are at the core of our work at Hamburger Bahnhof and broaden their scope far beyond the museum walls. In time, we are also building an interconnected archive of these articles, papers, interviews and general texts that makes visible how our research topics and areas of focus are interlinked. We are excited to share this valuable resource with the wider research community and make Hamburger Bahnhof more accessible. Official release is 24 November.

CH What should the next thirty years look like? Looking towards 2056, what ambitions will guide Hamburger Bahnhof's next chapter? And what would you consider its most meaningful contribution to contemporary art if we were to revisit this conversation thirty years from now?

SB & CK
SB: It is very difficult to predict the future these days as there will be so many changes happening politically, technologically and ecologically. With that said, it is even more complicated to envision the consequence for contemporary art. What is for sure, however, is that there will be artists dealing with the issues and media of their time. Hamburger Bahnhof never hesitated to collect artworks that are challenging to preserve and maintain. Therefore, I very much hope that our acquisitions will offer meaningful contributions for future discourses in art and society.
CK: It is an exciting thought to imagine the museum’s 60th birthday and how the museum team, its artists, and its public will then look back at what we were working on 30 years ago. I think curiosity and the joy in opening the museum up to the yet unknown is what is very valuable in this thought exercise, as that openness is one of the most important catalysts for development and growth in our shared work.