Nordhausen was not just a painter or writer; she was a master of “activation” standing at the intersection of art, curation, publishing, and social action. Active at the very center of Hamburg’s cultural scene from the 1970s to the early 1990s, the artist is known for her process-oriented production that fits no mold.
At the heart of the exhibition lies a major donation made by the artist’s family to Hamburger Kunsthalle and the vast archive that Nordhausen herself described as needing to be “moved and cared for.” This selection in the Harzen Cabinet celebrates Nordhausen’s elegant transitions between layers of time and different media.
Nordhausen’s world is shaped not by the representation of static objects but by the direct staging of moments and spaces. The conceptual drawings greeting us in the exhibition make visible the first seeds of thought spreading through space by bringing together the artist’s early drawings and texts. The archive of BUCH HANDLUNG WELT, the bookstore-gallery she founded in 1976, is positioned at the center of the show not merely as a space but as a collective social sculpture where artists and writers met. Photographic and video documentations focusing on performances and gestures carry poetic yet action-oriented traces—such as “constructing reality on Monday”—into the present, while site-specific in-situ installations invite the viewer to a physical experience through art objects interacting with their surroundings.
These lines written by Nordhausen in 1990 summarize the spirit of the exhibition:
“In reality, there is no peace here, because things are standing everywhere and nothing is being moved. There is so much inside and outside that needs care.”
This exhibition aims to pull Nordhausen’s works out of the silence of museum storages and reactivate them. Her collages and interventions carry Hamburg’s counter-cultural atmosphere of that era, artist communities, and the fragility of individual quests into today.
Visit Information
Venue: Hamburger Kunsthalle, Harzen Cabinet.
Dates: Until January 4, 2026.
Apartment No: 26 Note
Hilka Nordhausen reminds us that art is not just a finished painting; it can be a meeting place, a bookstore, or a chalk circle. Reading Hamburg’s art history not only through big names but through these “ghosts in the curves” can completely change your view of the city.
