IMAGINE THE CITY: THE GATE

THE GATE explores Hamburg’s identity through its famous image slogan as the “Gateway to the World.” The hybrid urban-space exhibition harnesses the multiplicity of interpretations of this metaphor and follows the trail to the place where the city is focused on itself, namely HafenCity. The sense of tradition and the drive for innovation are to be reconciled in Europe’s largest inner-city urban development project, where the latest vision of the “Gateway to the World” is being rendered as a built-up space. 

Each of the formats featured in the two parts of THE GATE showcase HafenCity as a continually evolving organism in which buildings and people mutually influence one another. The five overarching sections “Control,” “Limbo,” “Paradise,” “Potency” and “Overseas” are the elements linking a locally based Audio Library and an Art Trail comprised of 16 stations throughout HafenCity.

THE GATE is curated by Ellen Blumenstein, co-curated by Mona Hermann and Theresa Michel.

Art Walk
Most of the artworks were created specifically for THE GATE and are sited at various points of entry into and out of the district. The gateway metaphor is their starting point for an exploration of aspects of the urban space that usually receive little attention in the everyday life of a city. Indeed, it is precisely these invisible, unconscious or unwanted elements that play such a decisive role in the way an urban space is perceived and accepted by its users. Each of these artworks is a “gateway” in its own right, to be explored individually and in no particular order. 

With: Marlon de Azambuja, Eduardo Basualdo, Marc Bijl, Liesel Burisch, Angela Jiménez Durán, Omer Fast, FORT (Jenny Kropp & Alberta Niemann), Kapwani Kiwanga (special project), LU’UM (satellite site), Joiri Minaya, Mundhalle artists (satellite site), Franziska Nast, Tamu Nkiwane, Camillo Ritter, Dennis Rudolph, Curtis Talwst Santiago, Mark Wallinger, Svenja Björg Wassill

The Art Walk is funded by the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, Ministry of Culture and Media, and the Mondriaan Fund. 

Bedform by Kapwani Kiwanga is part of the culture programme related to Canada’s Guest of Honour presentation at the Frankfurt Book Fair in 2020/21. It is supported by the Canada Council for the Arts and the Government of Canada.

Audio Library
The Audio Library is comprised of ten entertaining podcast series with lots of interesting facts and figures about the district, vividly conveyed from a wide range of perspectives. While most of this content can also be browsed at home or on the go, these 70 (and more) contributions are best sampled on location at HafenCity. Users have the option of compiling their own individual route from some 750 minutes of programming, based on their interests and personal preferences. They may choose to take their inspiration from the recommendations and practical tips featured on the homepage or sort the podcasts themselves according to topics, formats or locations and follow their personal tour on the map view.

With: Lars Amenda, Jürgen Bruns-Berentelg, Anke Harnack, Franz-Josef Höing, Ernst Jünger, Julia Kemp, Taran N Khan, Julia Lauter, Iris Minich, Dorothee Roth, Joseph Roth, Uwe M. Schneede, Sandra Schürmann, Hadi Teherani, Christoph Twickel, Daniel Tyradellis, Mervan Ürkmez, Günther Vogt, Laurens Walter, Miniatur Wunderland.

The Audio Library is a sub-project within the Open Worlds network (2020–23) by the Museum für Gegenwartskunst Siegen, IMAGINE THE CITY Hamburg, Kestner Gesellschaft Hanover and Marta Herford. Open Worlds is funded over four years through the Digital Fund as part the Kultur Digital programme of the German Federal Cultural Foundation. 

The IMAGINE THE CITY programme is made possible through funding from HafenCity Hamburg GmbH.