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
Saturday, 20.06.2026, Opening of FIRE. From the Cosmos to the Commons at the St. Nikolai Memorial
3:00 pm Performance of Ljuzem’s Walk by Ljuzem Madiljin in collaboration with the Hamburg Tanztriennale
5:00 pm Carillon performance
5:30 pm Welcome by Nele Fahnenbruck, Dr. Martin Vetter, Inga Wellmann, Joanna Warsza, and José Délano
6:00–8:00 pm Walk through the exhibition with Joanna Warsza, José Délano, and artists; performance and drinks by artist Salah Zater
8:00 pm Carillon performance
Sunday, 21 June 2026, Opening of Sunflower Fields & Program for FIRE at the St. Nikolai Memorial
1:00 pm Walk through the exhibition with Joanna Warsza, José Délano, and artists
3:00 pm Performance of Ljuzem’s Walk by Ljuzem Madiljin in collaboration with the Hamburg Tanztrienniale
4:30 pm Opening of Agnes Denes Sunflower Fields at Hammaburg-Platz. Reading of the manifesto with artist Stephanie Jacobs
6:00 pm Performance by Andrey Klassen at the Project Space Admiralitätstraße 76 in the frame of his exhibition Keiner rannte hosted by Kunsthaus Hamburg.
