Hamburg 22081
Germany
In 2025, more than 140 students graduated from Hochschule für Bildende Künste Hamburg (HFBK). Their final projects are now presented online featuring striking images and accompanying texts. The works gathered on the online platform bear witness to the courage with which the graduates embarked on an artistic exploration at the beginning of their studies—a confrontation with themselves, with the present, its fractures, demands, and possibilities. They open up their perspective on the world to us: precise and poetic, critical and playful, experimental, tender, uncompromising—and expressed through an impressive diversity of artistic forms. Whether in images, installations, films, performances, textiles, sculptures, or in working with archives and social spaces, the graduates’ works demonstrate both technical precision and conceptual clarity—and are often infused with subversive humor or an unexpected lightness. Their works speak of deep compassion, solidarity, and a vigilant awareness of social contexts. They offer a counterpoint to the pervasive cynicism and fatigue of our time: imagination, sensitivity, and resilience. Enjoy exploring!
About HFBK Hamburg
The HFBK Hamburg (University of Fine Arts) is a place of artistic and scholarly engagement with the issues of the rapidly changing present. Originating from artistic practice, research processes unfold here in an atmosphere of interconnected thinking and working, experimenting with new forms, languages, and methodologies. Founded over 250 years ago as an educational institution for applied design, HFBK Hamburg is now one of the most internationally renowned art academies. With its wide range of courses, it offers opportunities for interdisciplinary artistic and academic training. Around 950 students currently work, learn, and conduct research together in studios and more than 20 workshops. The curriculum is flexible, allowing ample space for individual and collective exploration and development of artistic research processes within a diverse, international network. The internationally aligned, consecutive Bachelor’s and Master’s programs in Fine Arts follow a transdisciplinary approach to artistic development processes, not confined to traditional boundaries between applied and free arts, nor between artistic and academic disciplines. Additionally, a post-graduate qualification is offered: Dr. phil. in artibus and PhD in Art Practice. Closely connected to contemporary artistic developments, HFBK Hamburg also initiates public debates, builds networks, and promotes knowledge transfer with various communities. HFBK Hamburg's international initiatives are consolidated in the Art School Alliance program, which forms the core of worldwide collaborations with art academies in different countries.
