Currency

The 8th Triennial of Photography Hamburg announces the full program for the opening weekend from May 20 to 22, and the Festival, the Register and the Recital, from June 2–6, 2022.

12 exhibitions present their interpretations of the Triennial’s theme of Currency to explore the many ways in which photographs are produced, circulated, and interpreted. Conjuring the initial inspiration for the curatorial framework, artistic director Koyo Kouoh remarks, “After more than a century of living with photography, we have learned to perceive the world ‘photographically,’ with many of us seeing the world in image formats shaped by the media platforms that disseminate them. While images themselves are unstable forms, the mental repository we build through this prosthetic mode fundamentally shapes how we engage with the world around us. The present day is therefore a ‘retinal era’; one that requires a different grammar for looking, reading, and responding to images beyond this saturated condition.”

Opening weekend (May 20–22, 2022)
The opening weekend offers curator introductions to all exhibitions as well as artists talks, conversations, parties, and a dance performance. At the Deichtorhallen–Halle für aktuelle Kunst, artist Alfredo Jaar will use his work in Currency: Photography Beyond Capture as a jumping off point for a talk about the possibilities of photography to intervene in concealed histories (Fri, May 20, 5:30 pm); and artist Osamu James Nakagawa will speak about his methods of visualizing the imperial structures of occupied territories (Sat, May 21, 5:30 pm). At the Museum for Hamburg History, a dance performance by Eva Lomby opens the exhibition Power. Means. Money., conceived in collaboration with Yolanda Gutiérrez and Chris Schwagga (Sat, May 21, 11 am); and for the discussion “Herbert List: The Queer Gaze” at the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe (MK&G), co-curator Sven Schumacher will be in conversation with professor Katrin Köppert and historian Ben Miller around the photographer’s work and queer aesthetics (Sun, May 22, 3 pm).

Festival: The Register and the Recital (June 2–6, 2022)
Due to the large number of exhibitions and events, the Triennial has moved its festival to Pentecost weekend so that visitors can take their time exploring an extensive program of artist talks, lectures, performances, film screenings, curator tours, workshops, and bike tours. The festival is organized in cooperation with several major Hamburg cultural institutions and extends the Triennial to the entire city. Events include the conversation series Connect, which introduces the work of Viktoria Binschtok, Max Pinckers, Frida Orupabo and others from the exhibition Give and Take: Images upon Images at Hamburger Kunsthalle (June 2 to 6, daily at 4 pm); an artist talk by Walid Raad (Halle 424: Sun, June 5, 7pm); a discussion with Akinbode Akinbiyi, on the topic of wandering in cities, in response to photographer Hans Meyer-Veden’s exhibition at Jenisch Haus (Sun, June 5, 5 pm); a lecture performance investigating the fabrication of images by Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige at the Deichtorhallen–Halle für aktuelle Kunst (Mon, June 6, 4 pm); and film programs curated in collaboration with Kurzfilm Festival Hamburg (Chanting Down Babylon) on migrant German cinema, and Filmfest Hamburg (Darkroom of Memories) on photographic memory. The complete festival program is now online.

Launching with the festival, Triennial Expanded features twelve selected projects and more than 50 satellite exhibitions in galleries and art venues across the city. The platform champions the local photography scene as a space for exchange and encounter with photography in and from Hamburg.

Discover the full program of the opening weekend and festival in the new Triennial map.

More information about Triennial Expanded.

Triennial Ticket plus Hamburg Card
For the first time, a combined ticket for all exhibitions and events can be used to visit the 8th Triennial of Photography Hamburg 2022. The Triennial Ticket includes admission to all twelve exhibitions during the Opening Weekend (May 20–22, 2022) and the Festival (June 2–6, 2022), as well as the benefits of the Hamburg Card, such as the use of public transport, and additional offers. Visit hamburg-tourism.de/triennale to purchase tickets and for further information.

General information about the 8th Triennial of Photography Hamburg 2022 here.

Initiated by F. C. Gundlach, the Triennial of Photography Hamburg has taken place every three years since 1999 federating Hamburg’s major museums, art spaces, cultural institutions, galleries, and foundations. Since 2014, the Triennial’s organization has been led by the Deichtorhallen Hamburg GmbH.The artistic director of the 8th Triennial of Photography Hamburg 2022 is Koyo Kouoh, who appointed an international curatorial team consisting of Rasha Salti, Gabriella Beckhurst Feijoo and Oluremi C. Onabanjo. The eighth edition is funded by the Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg, Behörde für Kultur und Medien, with further support from BMW Niederlassung Hamburg, Otto Group, Stroer, White Wall and Zeit-Stiftung (Ebelin and Gerd Bucerius).

The following museums and exhibition houses are participating: the Bucerius Kunst Forum, the Deichtorhallen Hamburg with the House of Photography, the Hall for Contemporary Art and the Falckenberg Collection, the Hamburger Kunsthalle, the Jenisch Haus, the Kunsthaus Hamburg, the Kunstverein in Hamburg, the MARKK – Museum am Rothenbaum. World Cultures and Arts, the Museum der Arbeit, the Museum für Hamburgische Geschichte, and the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg (MK&G). Additional cooperation partners in Hamburg are the Friends of the House of Photography, the Kurzfilm Festival Hamburg, the Filmfest Hamburg, Imagine the City, and Kampnagel.