Saturday, 20.06.2026, Opening of FIRE. From the Cosmos to the Commons at the St. Nikolai Memorial
17:00 - 18:00
Welcoming words by Dr. Nele Fahnenbruck, Managing Director Verein Mahnmal St. Nikolai Inga Wellmann, Head of the Department of Art, Literature and Creative Industries, Ministry of Culture and Media Hamburg, Joanna Warsza, City Curator Hamburg, José Délano, Exhibition Architect,
In the presence of Artists, Partners, Collaborators and Guests.
18:00
Salah Zater culinary performance
18:30 - 19:30
A walk through the exhibition with Joanna Warsza, José Délano, and an introduction to the works by:
Hala Alnaji, Billy Bultheel, Saodat Ismailova, Nikita Kadan, Hamedine Kane, Annette Kelm, Lene Markusen, Mark Morris, Neda Saeedi, Mikołaj Sobczak, Cecilia Vicuña & Coco Bergholm
20:00
Carillon Concert Billy Bultheel – Act I (Le rachat des cloches) in collaboration with Night Shifts, performed by carillonneur Werner Lamm
20:30 Salah Zater culinary performance
Sunday, 21.06.2026, Opening of Sunflower Fields & Program for FIRE at the St. Nikolai Memorial
13:00 - 14:00
A walk through the exhibition with Joanna Warsza, José Délano, and an introduction to the works by:
Hala Alnaji, Billy Bultheel, Saodat Ismailova, Nikita Kadan, Hamedine Kane, Annette Kelm, Lene Markusen, Mark Morris, Neda Saeedi, Mikołaj Sobczak, Cecilia Vicuña & Coco Bergholm
15:00 - 16:00
Performance Ljuzem’s Walk by Ljuzem Madiljin in collaboration with Tanztriennale Hamburg (ending at Sunflower Fields, Hammaburg-Platz)
16:30
Opening of Sunflower Fields by Agnes Denes at the Hammaburg-Platz
Reading of Agnes Denes’ Manifesto by artist-gardener Stephanie Jacobs & technical Lead Felix Jung with Welcoming words by Mizbah Mustafa, Consul General of the Republic of Kosovo, Vatra Abrashi, Leutrim Fishequi and Barış Karamuço, Directors of Autostrada Biennale, representatives of the BürgerStiftung Hamburg, Joanna Warsza, José Délano
18:00
Performance Andrey Klassen Keiner rannte
Kunsthaus Hamburg at the Project Space Admiralitätsstraße 75
Introduction by Anna Nowak, Managing and Artistic Director Kunsthaus Hamburg
Our summer 2026 Public Art exhibition FIRE. From the Cosmos to the Commons in collaboration with the St. Nikolai Memorial is dedicated to the element of Fire, the apocalypse and the repair. FIRE presents a series of public art commissions of both Hamburg-based as well as the international artists, dealing with the political, ecological, and spiritual reading of fire in the times of political urgency. It addresses the current pervasive feeling of impending catastrophe, asking, how to turn poison into medicine, confusion into strength, loss into renewal and resilience.
The exhibition takes place at the St. Nikolai Memorial; a former church located in the heart of Hamburg and destroyed by flames two times in its history. Never rebuilt after the World War II, it is now a place of remembrance and encounter, offering a space to learn about what causes wars. Each day, it welcomes thousands of visitors, linking the memory of destruction and the irreparable damage with hope and the collective will to mend. In that context the contemporary works of Public Art, presented in the most democratic, accessible and complex manner, ask how to find a way out from the vicious cycle of destruction and renewal towards a non-violent planetary co-existence.
FREE AND OPEN TO ALL!
At the St. Nikolai Memorial
Curated by Joanna Warsza, City Curator Hamburg
Opening weekend: 20. – 21.6.2026
Exhibition: 21.6. – 21.9.2026
