The Counter-Monument Hier + Jetzt (Here + Now), was created in 1997 by the German-French artist Gloria Friedmann (*1950) commissioned by the Hamburg Authority for Justice and Consumer Protection and the Ministry of Culture and Media Hamburg. It both commemorates the victims of the Nazi justice system as well as diagnoses the injustices of the present times. It is a growing and alive installation that consists of various pots of plants that have undergone a migration process and have adapted to the new circumstances. Hier + Jetzt warns that remembrance does not have an effect if it's not linked to here and now, the social injustices and blind spots of today.
Even if it's located in the city center, in recent years, this public work has become invisible and has suffered significant damage. After its performative activation by the artist collective in exile Chto Delat International in the summer 2025, at the common initiative of the Hamburg Authority for Justice and Consumer Protection, the Ministry of Culture and Media Hamburg and the City Curator Hamburg, the piece was restored by Markus Lohmann, the plants cared for, and a new, aerial photo of the city has been pasted.
We invite you to the reopening ceremony of the restored counter-monument with: Anna Gallina, Senator for Justice and Consumer Protection; Dr. Carsten Brosda, Senator for Culture and Media; Joanna Warsza, City Curator Hamburg, artist Gloria Friedmann, restorer Markus Lohmann and the gardeners from Planten un Blomen.
With an artistic intervention by Chto Delat International:
Tsaplya Olga Egorova and Dmitry Vilensky (concept, production, and performance)
In collaboration with: Maria Markina (musical direction and performance)
Performers: David Osaodion Odiase, Bahar Ensafi, Mariya Gyurova, Egana Dzhabbarova
Languages: German as well as English, Azerbaijani, Bulgarian, Persian, Polish, Russian and Urdu
The Inauguration of the Here + Now monument by Gloria Friedmann is part of the series of City Curator projects Counter-Monuments. Performing the Public Collection of Hamburg. The series features ongoing artistic activations of Hamburg's fascinating and yet very often overlooked, public art collection. Artistic interventions are accompanied by the work of care, restoration and maintenance of the sites together with the Ministry of Culture and Media Hamburg.
