Hamburg's public spaces are home to fascinating and influential works of art, monuments, and artistic projects. However, their stories and origins have never been documented or told. Since the beginning of the year, the ReferenzBibliothek project has been dedicated to filling this gap. The project collects references in the form of books, photos, videos, and ephemera, primarily from 1981 onwards, and mediates them in various presentation formats. While researching public art in Hamburg and beyond, the polyphony of references emerged. These references form a network of diverse traces – comparable to a musical score in which different tones resonate with each other. This web of references and stories shapes the ReferenzBibliothek into an open and continuously evolving memory.

At the Kunsthaus Hamburg, selected traces from this score will be presented in a performative format, and the new ReferenzBibliothek website will be unveiled alongside insights into the 2026 plans. The presentation will be moderated by the art theorist Dr. Belinda Grace Gardner, who is a mediator, co-conspiration and co-networker of the project. From 16 November, an initial selection of books from the ReferenzBibliothek will be made available to the public in the foyer of the Kunsthaus Hamburg during the institution’s opening hours, without prior registration.

ReferenzBibliothek is a project by para-education (Dörte Habighorst, Thesea Rigou Efstathopoulos, Malin Kuht and Sarah Savalanpour). It was initiated by the City Curator Hamburg and evolves in cooperation with Kunsthaus Hamburg and the Ministry of Culture and Media Hamburg. Thanks to the support of the Elbkulturfonds, the project will continue in 2026.