from creatures to creators

Saelia Aparicio, Samara Daioub & Zion König, Ed Fornieles, Pakui Hardware, Alfred Kubin, Mary Maggic, Bernard Picart, Tabita Rezaire, Amalia Ulman, Emmanuel Van der Auwera, Steffen Zillig

See captions below.


Opening afternoon, 4 – 9 pm
Friday, 23 July 2021
Free admission with distance and mask. Thank you for understanding the limitation of visitors in the exhibition. Prior registration and test are not necessary.

Exhibition brochure

Short video clips in the context of the exhibition

Virtual exhibition tour

Audio Guides

Film to the exhibition


Death has recently come disturbingly close. Inevitably, as a result of the global pandemic, everyone is somehow confronted with mortality. However, it is not only because of the current situation that the desire for a long life has taken on a completely new meaning.

Through the paradigm of science, death is no longer a divine decree, but rather a technical challenge. According to the latest findings of biogerontologists, the life span can already be extremely extended with the help of the right tools. There are, for example, “biohackers” who are researching ways to intervene in the human organism to improve its performance, optimize the body or manipulate the DNA. Transhumanists likewise are increasingly seeking to overcome biological limitations through technological solutions. Inevitably, the question arises whether the development of an artificial intelligence (AI) on a par with humans does not actually mean the end of Homo sapiens.

The exhibition from creatures to creators explores concepts of humanity with regard to our future subsistence. It assembles international artists who, from multiple angels, shed a light on ways of dealing with our human existence, including future conceptions of it, and also dare to conjure visions going beyond the finite, conceiving the superhuman. Spanning installations, sculptures, murals and video works, the exhibition thus combines a wide range of artistic approaches, negotiating complex subject matter such as invisible lines of molecular (bio)power, processes of self-optimization, spiritual healing and the prospect of eternal life.


Accompannying programme

im-mortal
Interdisciplinary series of lectures

Guided tours
Tuesday, 10 August 2021, 6 pm
Tuesday, 31 August 2021, 6 pm
Sunday, 19 September 2021, 4 pm


Kindly supported by

Photo 1 – 11: from creatures to creators, Installation view, Kunsthaus Hamburg 2021, photo: Hayo Heye
Photo 12: from creatures to creators, Installation view, Kunsthaus Hamburg 2021, Detail: Bernard Picart, Tithon, mari de l’Aurore, change en cigale, 1730 (reproduction), photo: Hayo Heye
Photo 13: from creatures to creators, Installation view, Kunsthaus Hamburg 2021, Detail: Pakui Hardware, Thrivers, 2019, photo: Hayo Heye
Photo 14: from creatures to creators, Installation view, Kunsthaus Hamburg 2021, Detail: Alfred Kubin, Die Stunde der Geburt, Hans-von-Weber-Mappe, Nr. 524, photo: Hayo Heye