Inauguration of the program of Hamburg’s new City Curator
June 20–August 24, 2025
On the midsummer weekend, Hamburg’s fascinating history of public art writes a new chapter with a constellation of projects: From the Cosmos to the Commons, which inaugurates the program of Joanna Warsza, Hamburg’s new City Curator. Conceived in close cooperation with Kunsthaus Hamburg as the umbrella institution, this multifaceted endeavor unfolds across Planetarium Hamburg, Stadtpark, Kunsthaus Hamburg, and Warburg-Haus. From the Cosmos to the Commons is a constellation of three exhibitions and a symposium reflecting the human need to look up to the stars to understand life on Earth, while proposing new forms of planetary publicness.
Aby Warburg’s lost exhibition rediscovered at Planetarium Hamburg
At the heart of the program is the remarkable rediscovery of Aby Warburg’s Image Collection on the History of Astrology and Astronomy, developed with Gertrud Bing and Fritz Saxl in 1929 as his last exhibition. Thought lost for decades, this “hidden treasure” was unearthed in the late 1980s by Uwe Fleckner, who now curates its public presentation in the impressive, usually inaccessible Kesselsaal of Planetarium Hamburg. Newly staged by José Délano, the exhibition unfolds as an elliptical journey, exploring how humanity has sought to interpret and explain the stars and their mysterious movements over four millennia—oscillating between mythic imagery and mathematical abstraction, and negotiating the tensions between the spiritual and the rational, both essential to human well-being.
Context-specific interventions: Planetarium Hamburg and Stadtpark
Orbiting Warburg’s ideas, fifteen international artists activate Planetarium Hamburg and Hamburg’s Stadtpark with new works. Four installations are situated directly at Planetarium Hamburg: KITE, María Edwards, Raqs Media Collective, and Eske Schlüters, while the park features works by Salwa Aleryani, Agnes Denes, Shahira Issa, Małgorzata Mirga-Tas, Sibylle Peters & Felix Jung, Hoda Tawakol, Timo Nasseri, Ben Nurgenç, Olu Ogunnaike, Xul Solar, and Heidi Voet. This constellation of works by half Hamburg-based, half internationally based artists brings different forms of planetary knowledge into dialogue.
Between Stars and Signals: group show at Kunsthaus Hamburg
At Kunsthaus Hamburg, the exhibition Between Stars and Signals—curated by its director Anna Nowak—spans humanity’s journey from celestial navigation to the planetary paradigm of GPS and digital mapping. Featuring internationally renowned artists alongside Hamburg-based practitioners, the show reflects on how our understanding of space and time has evolved and questions whether digital transformation leads to deeper cosmic consciousness or further alienation from our immediate world. Participating artists: Aram Bartholl, Zach Blas, Nolan Oswald Dennis, Charles & Ray Eames, Sasha Litvintseva & Beny Wagner, Timo Nasseri, Norbert Pape & Simon Speiser, Trevor Paglen, Katie Paterson, Marie Pietsch, Agnieszka Polska, Jana Schumacher, Hoda Tawakol.
“Towards the Planetary Public Sphere”: symposium at Warburg-Haus
The program also includes Towards the Planetary Public Sphere, a symposium at Warburg-Haus curated by Joanna Warsza and Patricia Reed. Through readings, performances, theory, and culinary experiments, artists and thinkers—including KITE, Raqs Media Collective, Sujatro Gosh, and Bill Sherman (Director of London’s Warburg Institute)—explore how art mediates planetary thinking across political, scientific, and mythological dimensions.
Five years, five elements
From the Cosmos to the Commons marks the beginning of the new City Curator program. Since 2024, the project has been hosted by Kunsthaus Hamburg. Over the next five years, the City Curator will hold summer exhibitions revolving around the five elements—cosmos, fire, air, earth, and water as our shared common denominators—with a focus on one element each year. The other series called Counter-Monuments starts in late summer 2025.
Opening weekend and key dates
Between Stars and Signals, Kunsthaus Hamburg: June 20–August 17, 2025.
Opening: June 20, 7pm (with performances and DJ set)
Image Collection on the History of Astrology and Astronomy and From the Cosmos to the Commons, Planetarium Hamburg & Stadtpark: June 21–August 24, 2025.
Opening: June 21, 6–10pm (with artist walks and performances)
Towards the Planetary Public Sphere, Warburg-Haus: June 22, 2025, 12–5pm (free entry; registration required at info@stadtkuratorin-hamburg.de)
Organisers: Kunsthaus Hamburg, City Curator Hamburg (Stadtkuratorin Hamburg), Planetarium Hamburg, Warburg-Haus
Partners and sponsors: Behörde für Kultur und Medien (BKM) / Ministry of Culture and Media Hamburg, ZEIT STIFTUNG BUCERIUS, Claussen Simon Stiftung, Warburg-Melchior-Olearius Foundation, India Week Hamburg, Fundación Ama Amoedo, Museo Xul Solar, Warburg Institute London, Internationales Sommerfestival, Autostrada Biennale
