History
20 years Kunstverein
Founded
in 1999 by local artists Udo Dettmann and René Havekost and with
generous support by Dr. Dieter Bobbert und Dr. Hanns Kippenberger, the
Kunstverein Harburger Bahnhof is located directly in the Hamburg-Harburg
Station above tracks 3 and 4. There, on a floor area of approximately
three hundred square metres in the impressive spatial facilities of the
former first-class waiting room with its historical coffered ceiling,
contemporary art is on display.
Following an initial focus on
painting, exemplified by such events as the major Franz Gertsch
exhibition in 2000, the Kunstverein programme gradually evolved under
its various curators, Wilhelm Figger, Nina Möntmann, Mathias Güntner and
Ulla Lohmann. Increasingly, efforts were undertaken to present
developments in contemporary art of a wide range of media, and to
address theme-related issues of artistic production. Group exhibitions
such as "Eigene Systeme" (2002), "Plattform Taubenstrasse" (2003),
"Selbstporträt/Identität" (2004), or "Pflanzendialoge" (2006) testify to
these activities.
In January 2007, Tim Voss – at that time the
Kunstverein’s new artistic director, now (since 2008) the holder of this
position jointly with Britta Peters – brought about yet another shift
of focus in the institution’s exhibition practice: at the core of the
exhibition cycle "Reihe:Ordnung / Series:Order" was the endeavour to
represent interventions by contemporary artists and artist groups into
themes of relevance to society – for example work, love, money, sex,
power, liberty and future (the terms which served as the subtitles of
the seven exhibitions realized in the cycle) – not with a selection
existing works, but by making these interventions directly
experienceable in complex exhibitions.
In 2010, under the
direction of Britta Peters and Marie Luise Birkholz and in colaboration
wiith Anna Goetz, the focus is on the expansion and contextualization of
the exhibition activities with the aid of the books, photos, texts and
information to which the public has access in the Kunstverein’s
"Magazine". At the same time, through the production of publications of
its own with the exhibiting artists, a wide range of synergies are being
triggered at the Kunstverein. The artist books published here will
become part of our collection, where they are guaranteed use by an
interested public. Moreover, with these publications, the exploration of
the artistic approach introduced in a given exhibition can be continued
in another place and form.
From 2011 to 2013, the Kunstverein
was under the curatorial direction of Isabelle Busch and Franziska Solte
who attended a more international program. This was reflected, i.a. in
her inaugural exhibition "Is This Where It Ends?" by Sunah Choi and
Haroon Mirza. However, the connection to local artists was not lost: In
the exhibition series „Am Piano" (2012) young artists from Hamburg were
invited to develop Cabinet exhibitions. Accompanying each exhibition
movie nights took place in the cinema designed by Jesko Fezer.
Anna
Sabrina Schmid has been the programme director of the Kunstverein
Harburger Bahnhof from 2014 until 2016. Under her direction, the
Kunstverein’s long-term collaboration with many international artists
has led to several solo exhibitions and new productions. The Kunstverein
Harburger Bahnhof not only hosts exhibitions; it also offers a space
where artists can rehearse and work on their productions. Our focus lies
on works with conceptual, spatial, and performative approaches, with a
special emphasis on elements of sound. Thus, our collaboration with
artists like Kasia Fudakowski, Hannah Weinberger, and Ruth Buchanan
includes the production of an artist’s record, instead of an exhibition
catalogue. Because this has become one of the main features of our
programme, a temporary space for audio releases was developed in the
gallery together with Nguyen Phuong-Dan. In this large phonographic
library with the title Recordings, visitors are invited to explore the
material collection of historical and current works recorded on a
variety of media.
The program of Lisa Britzger and Jennifer
Smailes who were artistic directors from 2016 until 2018 assumed the
Kunstverein as a space which - as part of the system of art -
integrated in various social structures. With the means of art the use,
benefits and social effects of artistic practices for politics, science
or economy were tested. Urgent issues of our presence such as migration,
urban planning and the question of future cohabitation as well as
everyday and invisible effects of globalization and its consequences
were examined in projects that integrated collaborative,
entrepreneurial, creative and communicative approaches artistically and
reflected these issues back into the social space.
Artistic directors 2016-2018
Lisa Britzger, Jennifer Smailes
Artistic director 2014-2016
Anna Sabrina Schmid
Artistic directors 2011-2013
Isabelle Busch, Franziska Solte
Artistic directors 2010-March 2011
Britta Peters, Marie Luise Birkholz
Artistic directors 2007-2009
Britta Peters, Tim Voss
Team 2008
Tim Voss, Britta Peters, Marie Luise Birkholz
Team 2007
Veit Rogge, Tim Voss, Susanne Schröder