15.03.2026
Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart
With four new awards, Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart honours artists, patrons, and institutions for their sustainable contributions to contemporary art while also sending a signal for supporting young artists.
The first edition of the Hamburger Bahnhof Studio Award goes to Abdulhamid Kircher, Monilola Olayemi Ilupeju, and Jonas Roßmeißl. The Lifetime Achievement Award goes to Mona Hatoum, the Global Arts Patronage Award to Kiran Nadar, and the Changemaker Award to the Delfina Foundation. The four awards were presented for the first time during the benefit gala “A Night in Berlin” at Hamburger Bahnhof on Saturday, 14 March 2026. The award will now take place annually.
The Hamburger Bahnhof Studio Award carries a prize of €15,000 each and supports three artists under 35 who live and work in Germany. The 2026 winners were selected by a jury consisting of artists Mark Bradford, Ayoung Kim, and Katharina Grosse together with Sam Bardaouil and Till Fellrath, directors of Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart, and Gabriele Knapstein, deputy director and head of collections at Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart. Candidates were nominated by the curatorial team of Hamburger Bahnhof as well as international experts, including Sebastian Baden (Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt), Ulrike Groos (Kunstmuseum Stuttgart), Boaz Levin (C/O Berlin), Azu Nwagbogu (African Artists' Foundation), and Kathleen Reinhardt (Georg Kolbe Museum).
The Hamburger Bahnhof Lifetime Achievement Award honours artists whose work has significantly shaped contemporary culture worldwide and who have a longstanding connection to Berlin and Germany. The Hamburger Bahnhof Global Arts Patronage Award honours individuals whose philanthropic engagement sustainably strengthens international artistic communities. The Hamburger Bahnhof Changemaker Award is given to institutions that expand the reach, relevance, and societal impact of contemporary art in transformative ways.
With these four awards, Hamburger Bahnhof as the National Gallery of Contemporary Art recognizes artists, personalities, and institutions from across the world whose commitment makes art possible, while also providing new impulses for cultural engagement in Berlin and Germany. By honouring young artists, the museum explicitly affirms its commitment to the future of Berlin as an art city.
Sam Bardaouil and Till Fellrath, directors of Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart
The benefit gala A Night in Berlin took place on the evening of 14 March 2026, at Hamburger Bahnhof, featuring performances by members of the Berliner Philharmoniker and Staatsoper Unter den Linden with Ellen Allien, a solo by pianist Alice Sara Ott and the Tipi at Kanzleramt, and in a spatial installation by the artist duo Elmgreen & Dragset, with an intervention by Monica Bonvicini in the museum’s historic hall. The event was a thank-you to the numerous supporters of the anniversary programme 30 Years Hamburger Bahnhof, chaired by Sam Bardaouil and Till Fellrath, as well as Monique Burger and Christine Wuerfel-Stauss members of the leadership council of the Hamburger Bahnhof International Companions e. V. The evening highlighted Berlin’s significance as a cultural city and took place together with Berlin’s major institutions.
The gala is co-hosted by film and stage icons Edward Berger, Cate Blanchett, Matt Dillon, Nina Hoss, Thomas Ostermeier, and Wim Wenders; artists Monica Bonvicini, Mark Bradford, Elmgreen & Dragset, Anne Imhof, and Wolfgang Tillmans; global techno music innovator Ellen Allien; fashion, design, and publishing leaders Joerg Koch of 032C, Ottolinger’s Christa Boesch and Cosima Gadient, Carla Sozzani, and Kerstin Weng, with Berlin powerhouses the Berlinale represented by Tricia Tuttle, the Berlin Philharmonic represented by Andrea Zietzschmann, and the Staatsoper Unter den Linden represented by Elisabeth Sobotka.
In 2026, Hamburger Bahnhof celebrates its 30th anniversary with the programme 30 Years Hamburger Bahnhof, spanning the history of the site into the future: eight special exhibitions, a new collection presentation, as well as performances and concerts extend the museum into the city. The highlight is the anniversary weekend from 13 to 15 November 2026, which will include an international conference on the future of contemporary collection museums and continuous 30-hour opening of the museum.