Henrik Håkansson, Olafur Eliasson, Tacita Dean, Thomas Demand and Tomás Saraceno are amongst the most significant installation artists working today. They all started out in Berlin, working in warehouse studios adjacent to the Hamburger Bahnhof contemporary art gallery. Now, they return to the city for Next Door, an exhibition marking the museum’s 30th anniversary. After German reunification in 1990, the capital became a globally influential centre for culture. Creatives from around the world moved to the city, with many finding studios in empty industrial buildings. However, as Berlin grew, many of these spaces were converted into housing or commercial units, and their occupants forced to move elsewhere. The story of Next Door begins in the early 2000s at the Rieckhallen, the only surviving buildings of a major 1960s freight and transport hub. It was here that Dean, Demand, Eliasson, Håkansson and Saraceno began their careers.
The first part of the show is dedicated to Demand, known for his large-scale photographs of cardboard environments, hand-built in the studio. The panoramic Clearing (2003), for example, depicts a pristine forest made from 270,000 paper leaves. This piece is particularly poignant, as it was originally made in the Rieckhallen. Elsewhere, the artist engages with key moments in recent history, as in Ballroom (2025), which depicts boxes containing classified documents at Donald Trump’s private Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida. It asks audiences to consider the obfuscation of truth as well as the construction of images and meaning. Next, visitors come face-to-face with Håkansson’s four-channel video installation The Passage (Parnassius apollo) (2026), created especially for the exhibition. It follows the flight of an Apollo butterfly, recoded with a high-speed camera. Each screen presents the same event from a different angle and frame rate, again returning to the question of perception and whether we can always believe what we see.
Perception has long been at the heart of Eliasson’s work, and Your psychoacoustic light ensemble (2024) is no exception. Audiences enter a darkened room, in which a soundscape of strings and electronic sounds plays through six large circular mirrors. Transducers, which convert electrical audio signals into physical vibrations, cause the reflective surfaces to vibrate, disturbing the rays bouncing off their surfaces. Across the walls, circles of light pulse and ripple in response. Tomás Saraceno’s contributions are equally immersive. He presents three spider-based pieces, including 14 Billions (Working Title) (2010), which surrounds visitors with a black widow web rewoven at 16.7:1 scale with rope and over 23,000 hand-tied knots. The idea: to show that fear – even of arachnids – is constructed, and can be unlearnt.
Finally, the show closes on a playful note with Hand On (2026), a newly produced film and collaboration between Tacita Dean and Bruce Nauman. It shows a cut-out of Nauman’s left hand that fills the entire screen, set against the sunset outside his New Mexico studio. Dean recorded Nauman approaching the 35mm camera and attempting to align his right fingers with the cut-out of his left. He is engaged in the impossible and absurd task of “trying to fit what cannot be made to fit” – a poignant message that will resonate with many. This piece makes for fitting end to a exhibition dedicated to the shared act of creation.
Beyond reuniting some of the most exciting installation artists of recent times, Next Door makes a wider point about access to the arts. It draws attention to the importance of preserving spaces where creative minds can work freely, asks what kinds of conversations can grow from such environments. At a time when UK arts and culture is facing severe funding cuts, this is an important question for us all to consider.
Next Door is at Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin, until 27 June.
Words: Eleanor Sutherland
Image Credits:
1. Henrik Håkansson, The Passage (Parnassius Apollo), 2026. 4-channel video installation, transparent LED panels, acrylic tube, metal wire, speakers. 28 minutes. Courtesy of the artist; The Modern Institute, Glasgow; Galleria Franco Noero, Turin; MeyerRiegger, Berlin/Karlsruhe/Seoul.
2. Tomas Saraceno, 14 Billions (Working Title), 2010, black cords, rope, hooks, 5 × 8.33 × 7.63 m, exhibition view Next Door, Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart, Berlin, 2026. Courtesy of the artist with Arachnophilia and neugerriemschneider, Berlin; Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York; Andersen’s, Copenhagen; Pinksummer Contemporary Art, Genoa; Ruth Benzacar Gallery, Buenos Aires. © Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart / Luca Girardini.
3. Olafur Eliasson, Your psychoacoustic light ensemble, 2024, DMX LED lamps, iris diaphragm, light stands, mirror foil, 6-channel sound composition, audio amplifier, transducer, embedded computer system / DMX LED lamps, iris diaphragm, light stands, mirror foil, 6-channel sound composition, audio amplifier, transducer, embedded computer system, 32 sec. / sec., loop / loop, dimensions variable / dimensions variable, exhibition view / exhibition view Next Door, Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart. Courtesy of the artist; Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York; neugerriemschneider, Berlin © Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart / Luca Girardini.
