Dear Guests,

While the world focuses on battlegrounds, courtrooms, universities, and, as always, football stadiums, we turn to love. "Love takes off the masks that we fear we cannot live without and know we cannot live within", wrote James Baldwin in 1963, emphasizing love’s unmasking effect that makes us vulnerable yet open to the world. Only those who are willing to question themselves open up to others, becoming empathetic and capable of dialogue, thereby enabling personal growth. This becomes especially evident in the coarsening of public discourse, where dialogue increasingly gives way to resentment, delegitimization, and often dehumanization of the other. While the right increasingly chuckles to itself, cultural institutions are called upon to act. As Carolin Emcke writes, "The only way to confront hate is with what the hater lacks: precise observation, unrelenting differentiation, and self-doubt."

The best tool, of course, to refine and heighten one’s sensibilities and perspectives, is the Summer Festival, which this year unfolds with unparalleled appeal, heralded by the luminary of avant-garde dance history spanning six decades: LUCINDA CHILDS, with her company, presents four world premieres emerging from artistic collaborations with the pioneer of minimal music, PHILIP GLASS, the Oscar-winning composer HILDUR GUÐNADÓTTIR, and the seminal artist ANRI SALA for the festival opening. Additionally, video installations by Sala are displayed in the Vorhalle at Kampnagel and at Hamburger Kunsthalle as part of UNTRANQUIL NOW.

The entire festival program, featuring 69 different productions, is available as a brief walkthrough summary here. You can also explore individual productions in the overview below or view them in the calendar format.

Dance & Performance

Theatre

Concerts & Parties

Workshops

Migrantpolitan & Avant-Garden

Wallah Krise! at Avant-Garden