Hamburger Bahnhof Art Week Talks

On September 11, 2026, representatives from museums in the federal states surrounding Berlin will gather at the Hamburger Bahnhof to discuss city marketing, local art scenes, political positioning, audiences, and outreach in five panel discussions.

With the Hamburger Bahnhof Art Week Talks, the Hamburger Bahnhof is creating a space for exchange and networking among museums, cultural institutions, and artists from Berlin and neighboring regions to address shared challenges and explore new perspectives for museum work.

Program

11:00 a.m. to 11:45 a.m.

Panel 1: City Marketing

Museums are often key players in city marketing—yet they also carry expectations shaped by the history of their locations. How can cultural identity be communicated without fixing it in place? What strategies work amid the tension between regional self-confidence, national visibility, and political pressure?

In conversation

• Dr. Ulrike Lorenz, President, Klassik Stiftung Weimar
• Anja Richter, Chemnitz Art Collections, Director and Curator of the Gunzenhauser Museum
• Moderator: Mathilda Legemah, Strategic Development, Hamburger Bahnhof – National Gallery of Contemporary Art

12:00 p.m. to 12:45 p.m.

Panel 2: The Role of the Local Art Scene

What significance does the local art scene hold for a museum—and vice versa? How does a city museum portray its own city without becoming a mere local history exhibition? This panel explores the relationship between institutional collections and vibrant local artistic production.

Participants

• Dr. Jenny Graser, Curator of 20th- and 21st-Century Painting, Sculpture, and Prints, Museum of Fine Arts, Leipzig
• Fanny Stoye, Director, Zwickau Art Collections / Max Pechstein Museum
• Moderator: Hannah Pilarczyk, Editor, SPIEGEL

2:00–2:45 p.m.

Panel 3: Museums as Spaces for Discourse

In politically charged times, museums become contested arenas—but also potential spaces for reconciliation. How do institutions position themselves without becoming partisan? What does it mean to be a “space for discourse” when the public is increasingly polarized? And what institutional forms are needed to achieve this?

In conversation

• Till Fellrath, Director, Hamburger Bahnhof – National Gallery of Contemporary Art, Berlin
• Prof. Dr. Annegret Laabs, Director, Kunstmuseum Magdeburg Kloster Unser Lieben Frauen
• Dr. Barbara Steiner, Director and Board Member, Bauhaus Dessau Foundation
• Moderator: Carsten Probst, writer, art theorist, and critic

3:00–3:45 p.m.

Panel 4: Audience

Visitor numbers alone say little about social relevance. How do East German museums reach audience groups beyond the traditional visitors? What does “participation” mean in a region that is demographically shrinking and under political pressure? And how do you measure impact beyond admission statistics?

In conversation

• Prof. Dr. Marion Ackermann, President, Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation
• Dr. Pirko Kristin Zinnow, Director, State Palaces, Gardens, and Art Collections of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania / Schwerin State Museum
• Dr. Roland Krischke, Director, Altenburg Museums, Lindenau Museum Altenburg
• Moderator: Elke Buhr, Editor-in-Chief, Monopol Magazine

4:00–4:45 p.m.

Panel 5: Art Education

Art education is more than just explanation—it determines who feels welcome in a museum and who does not. How do museums shape their educational programs in the face of diverse audiences, limited resources, and political tensions? And what formats do museums offer as places of encounter without compromising their curatorial stance?

In conversation

• Ulrike Kremeier, Director, Brandenburg State Museum of Modern Art, Cottbus / Frankfurt (Oder)
• Dr. Jörg-Uwe Neumann, Director, Kunsthalle Rostock
• Claudia Schmidt, Head of Education and Outreach, Dresden State Art Collections
• Moderator: Dr. Sarah Alberti, Journalist & Art Historian