Hamburger Bahnhof’s Sam Bardaouil On Co-Leading a Museum in Flux

<img decoding="async" class="lazyload wp-image-1582599 size-full-width" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==" data-src="https://observer.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/HBF_Hosnedlov_10-2048×1536-1.jpeg?quality=80&w=970" alt="Large-scale installation view inside a vast industrial hall with arched steel beams. Towering organic sculptures made of rough, fibrous material rise like eroded cliffs across the floor, interspersed with reclining human figures and textured ground patterns. Along the side wall, pale sculptural forms resembling fossilized remains or casts protrude between the arches. Natural light filters through the tall windows at the back, amplifying the monumental, otherworldly atmosphere of the space." width="970" height="728" data-caption='Klára Hosnedlová’s 2025 Chanel Commission “embrace.” <span class=”lazyload media-credit”>© Courtesy of the artist, Kraupa-Tuskany Zeidler, White Cube / Nationalgalerie – Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Zdeněk Porcal – Studio Flusser</span>’>

Since opening in 1996 in the former terminal station of the Berlin-Hamburg railway, Hamburger Bahnhof has become one of the leading museums of contemporary art in Berlin as well as across Europe. Under the direction of Sam Bardaouil and Till Fellrath, who took over in January 2022, the museum has embraced a dynamic, inclusive and forward-looking approach, staging ambitious exhibitions and commissions while expanding its role as a platform for extensive public programming. During Berlin Art Week last month, Observer spoke with Bardaouil about the museum’s evolution, its vision and the challenges of navigating a shifting cultural climate in both the city and the country as a whole, as well as the opportunities to explore new models that may emerge from this moment.

Bardaouil describes the programming at Hamburger Bahnhof as a “continuous state of becoming”—never static, always porous. “It is shaped by artists who confront the urgencies of our time with the courage of their imagination,” he said, pointing to the museum’s recent exhibitions: Toyin Ojih Odutola, whose intimate explorations of displacement and belonging unfolded in an urban setting inspired by the city, complicating notions of identity and history; Korean artist Ayoung Kim, who examined fractured futures through time-based media and video game-inspired installations; Petrit Halilaj, who transformed personal memory into monumental sculpture and fragile poetry; and Delcy Morelos, whose visceral use of earth brought ritual and resonance into contemporary debates. “These are not decorative gestures,” Bardaouil emphasized, “but propositions for how art can expand what we know and how we live together.”

Since taking over the institution, Bardaouil and Fellrath’s curatorial vision has been guided by several key priorities. First, they sought to create dialogues across time and geography—bringing together established figures and emerging voices in ways that dismantle hierarchies of canon and place. Second, they aimed to use the scale and architecture of the historic building as a language, staging exhibitions that engulf, surround and reconfigure how bodies move through space. Third, they focused on building long-term relationships with diverse communities, developing programs centered on deep listening, sustained engagement and forms of participation embedded in the institution’s DNA. “If there is one principle, it is this: the museum must be restless enough to remain alive to its moment and committed enough to nurture lasting resonance beyond it,” Bardaouil stated.

While dual leadership and co-direction are becoming more common in museums, it remains rare for a curatorial duo to lead an institution as Bardaouil and Fellrath do. The two had already worked together for many years through their multidisciplinary platform Art Reoriented, curating exhibitions across the globe before this appointment. For Bardaouil, the greatest strength of the model lies in the depth of collaboration but also in the diversity between them. “Till and I come from different cultures, languages and formal training. That difference is not a liability but an asset. It means that for every exhibition, every program, a wider lens shapes every strategic decision—the work becomes richer, the arguments deeper, the museum stronger.”

“When people see two directors working in dialogue, it sets a precedent for non-hierarchical collaboration across departments,” Bardaouil added. “It fosters a culture of humility and trust, rather than ego and authority.” Here, he quotes James Baldwin: “The world changes according to the way people see it, and if you can alter, even by a millimeter, the way people look at reality, then you can change it.” This model, he believes, has allowed him and Fellrath to lead Berlin’s institution by seeing differently, together, and by shaping a museum where plurality is not an afterthought but the foundation of its strength.

A museum in a “continuous state of becoming”

Under Bardaouil and Fellrath’s direction, the museum launched a major rehang titled “Museum in Motion: A Collection for the 21st Century,” reactivating the collection as a living, evolving presentation. “The title signals the conviction that a museum must always be in flux, responding to and provoking its environment,” Bardaouil explained, stressing that museums should never be static repositories but integral parts of society that must evolve alongside it. “To keep the collection alive is to keep it moving—through rotations, commissions that intersect with its holdings, and public programs that open the works to fresh dialogue. Only then does the collection breathe as contemporary.”

Presenting ten large-scale works from the past 25 years, including several new acquisitions shown for the first time, the exhibition not only sparks new dialogues with contemporary audiences about the history of art, but also invites reflection and confrontation with the recent history of both the country and the continent. It brings together seminal works by Anne Imhof, Elmgreen & Dragset, Cevdet Erek, Manaf Halbouni, Maurizio Nannucci, Jasmin Werner, Ricarda Roggan, Hans-Peter Feldmann, Jeremy Shaw and David Zink Yi. “These works raise questions about the future of a museum for contemporary art: how must it adapt, what role can it play, and what challenges does it confront in an era of shifting demographics and technological acceleration,” said Bardaouil.

At the same time, Bardaouil and Fellrath staged critical dialogues between contemporary artists and historical figures such as Joseph Beuys, where artists Naama Tsabar, Andrea Pichl and Delcy Morelos have already engaged his legacy in conceptual and formal ways. Next year, Shilpa Gupta will join that conversation, addressing questions of borders and language.

Reimagining monumental art for the present

The duo of directors has also introduced an annual Historic Hall commission, resulting in ambitious site-specific installations and immersive environments, such as the current project by Berlin-based artist Klára Hosnedlová, on view through January 4, 2026. The commission was made possible through a partnership with the CHANEL Culture Fund, one of many initiatives fashion houses have recently launched with art institutions to support artistic and creative production. “It sets a new benchmark for what public institutions can offer, giving artists the chance to realize projects at a scale that would otherwise be impossible,” explained Bardaouil.

For the inaugural edition, Klára Hosnedlová has created her most ambitious installation to date: an immersive utopian—or dystopian—multisensorial landscape of flax fibers, monumental embroideries, cast glass, sandstone and iron. Dense with archetypal symbols and references to ancient folklore and myth, the work resonates universally through its cryptic language and layered sensorial environment. “The project marks her largest institutional solo exhibition so far, transforming the Historic Hall into a site of material intensity and speculative futures,” Bardaouil pointed out. The installation has proved so successful with audiences that the museum extended it until January 2026.

In selecting participating artists, Bardaouil and Fellrath focus on practices that inhabit the monumental scale of the Hall without losing intimacy or the ability to connect with contemporary audiences on multiple levels. They seek artists who think across disciplines and whose work engages the complexities of present-day life. “The CHANEL Commission is about turning the museum’s most iconic space into a place of transformation,” Bardaouil said. “Each commission is a world in itself, but together they form a sequence that redefines what monumental art can mean today.”

Looking ahead, Lithuanian artist Lina Lapelytė will take on the next edition, with a choreography of participation unfolding in an evolving landscape. Expectations are high after she captivated audiences of all ages with her opera performance Sun & Sea (Marina), staged in Lithuania’s pavilion at the 2019 Venice Biennale. The work, which won the Golden Lion for best national participation, became a cultural touchstone for its symbolically potent and narratively compelling metaphor for the climate emergency facing our planet.

Bardaouil and Fellrath envision Hamburger Bahnhof as “a vibrant space where art and audiences interact dynamically.” Particularly striking is the museum’s embrace of experimental formats, even hosting raves to celebrate exhibition openings or citywide events like the Berlin Biennale. When asked what a museum needs to engage a broader public and remain relevant to its community, Bardaouil responded without hesitation: trust must come first. “That means moving beyond the idea of audiences as consumers, and embracing them as co-constituents,” he reflected. This principle drives Hamburger Bahnhof’s robust public programming—more than 100 days of events designed to give voice to diverse communities.

“A museum must be porous, allowing in formats and voices once excluded, and sustaining that openness consistently, not as a gimmick. A museum isn’t a nightclub nor a church; it’s a civic stage. If people don’t see themselves reflected and respected on that stage, they won’t come. And they shouldn’t have to.”

Programming like the Open House Weekends, which drew nearly 40,000 visitors in just three days this year—many of them new to the institution—show how powerful a museum can be when it proves open and accessible to its community. “Berlin Beats,” with summer DJ sets in the museum garden, has attracted more than 200,000 visitors over the past three summers. “These events transform our space into a civic commons,” noted Bardaouil—something that is central to the museum’s mission.

Equally important, Bardaouil stressed, is how the museum mediates its content and messages. “We have worked hard to shed the didactic tone of traditional wall texts and to develop a new language of mediation that opens up possibilities without dictating meaning,” he explained. It comes down to trusting audiences to think and feel for themselves.

New challenges, new models

Hamburger Bahnhof benefits from a highly educated audience in a city like Berlin, long accustomed to living with art and culture. Yet while Germany was once considered one of Europe’s strongest and best-funded art systems, its cultural landscape has recently faced mounting challenges—from funding cuts to threats of political interference and censorship.

Germany still has one of the most robust art infrastructures in the world, Bardaouil asserted, but robustness does not mean immunity. Cuts are real, political pressure is mounting and culture is increasingly instrumentalized for exclusion. “The state of the art scene in Germany is complex. There is pressure—to align, to conform, to avoid friction. And there are also powerful narratives of cultural decline that some wish to weaponize,” he observed. “But in the face of this, artists and institutions have found renewed urgency to stand together to resist all forms of exclusion, meddling or political pressure.” What Germany’s cultural system needs now, according to Bardaouil, is genuine solidarity across museums, with artists and with the public.

“We cannot rely on public funding alone, nor should we want to,” he noted. This is why they founded the Hamburger Bahnhof International Companions: a group of highly engaged global supporters already active in the cultural field. “They are not drawn by perks or privileges but by values—diversity, inclusion, representation—and by the chance to work with us, on shaping projects that matter.” Their support brings not only financial stability but also diversity of perspective, which is just as valuable. “The challenges are real: shrinking budgets, polarized politics and skepticism toward institutions. But the opportunities are also real: to rethink models of support, to expand who participates in shaping institutions and to prove that museums are not symbols of decline but agents of possibility.”

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