Finissage of the 9th Triennial of Photography Hamburg 2026
For the finissage of the 9th Triennial of Photography Hamburg 2026, artists, curators, institutions and visitors come together at Deichtorhallen Hamburg on September 20, 2026.
The afternoon opens with the keynote Additions and Omissions by curator and educator John Fleetwood reflecting on photography as a space for encounters, relationships and interconnectedness. He will then be in conversation with Artistic Director Mark Sealy.
The programme continues with a forum bringing together Akinbode Akinbiyi (artist), Anna Feistel (Kurzfilm Festival Hamburg), Nadine Isabelle Henrich (curator, Haus der Photographie), Carsten Rabe (artist and independent curator), and Joanna Warsza (City Curator Hamburg) to reflect on the 9th Triennial as a collective, city-wide project: What encounters and conversations have emerged? How has the festival engaged with the city, its audiences, institutions and independent spaces? And what might be carried forward to shape Triennials to come?
The afternoon will conclude with music by Shimmy Robin in the foyer, inviting everyone to come together one last time to celebrate the 9th Triennial and its many encounters.
Timetable
15:00 – 15:30
Doors open
15:30 – 15:45
Welcome Note
Mark Sealy
15:45 – 16:25
Additions and Omissions
Keynote by John Fleetwood
When we look at photographs, we register more than what we see. We converge realities, dreams and desires. We conjure the faint outlines of what we have forgotten: a sensory load of ideas, events, memories, of each other – of presence. Looking becomes an entanglement of additions and omissions, of accepting and rejecting, almost seamlessly. In this way, our encounters with photography – with our own presence in place, with others, and with exhibitions and triennials more broadly – are shaped by an ongoing process of giving, withholding, rejecting, accepting and supplementing.
What space, then, does the 9th Triennial of Photography Hamburg 2026 call us to see, feel and encounter? Perhaps photography is less an object than a series of encounters: a relational exchange, a dialogue of different translations, an opening towards care and a sense of interconnectedness. How do we feel the presence of our Other?
John Fleetwood is a photography educator and curator. His work examines photography as a mode of knowledge production and circulation, with particular attention to visual cultures, methods, processes and socially engaged practices. His curatorial and educational practice considers how photographic meaning is produced, mediated and situated, often in African contexts. He is Co-Head of BA Photography at the Royal Academy of Art, The Hague (KABK) and Director of Photo: in Johannesburg. From 2002–2015, he was Director of the Market Photo Workshop in Johannesburg.
16:25 – 16:40
John Fleetwood in conversation with Mark Sealy
followed by Q&A
16:40 – 17:00
Break
17:00 – 18:00
Forum
Building on the ideas proposed by John Fleetwood, the forum brings together artists, curators and partners of the 9th Triennial to reflect on what this edition has set in motion. What encounters, conversations and collaborations have emerged? What resonated across the different exhibitions, spaces and projects? What new ways of working or thinking together have been sparked? And which questions, challenges or ideas remain to be addressed?
Rather than a conclusion, the forum is an invitation to continue the conversation: to share experiences, connect different perspectives and consider what might grow from this edition beyond the Triennial itself. The discussion is intended as a starting point for everyone present – artists, curators, institutional partners and audiences alike – to reflect on their own encounters and on what they would like to carry forward.
Guests: Akinbode Akinbiyi (artist), Anna Feistel (Kurzfilm Festival Hamburg), John Fleetwood (artist and educator), Nadine Isabelle Henrich (Haus der Photographie), Carsten Rabe (artist and independent curator), and Joanna Warsza (Stadtkuratorin Hamburg)
18:00 – 18:30
Closing Discussion – Opening the Conversation to the Audience
18:30 – 20:00
Closing Social & Music by Shimmy Robin
(Foyer)
We would be happy to receive your registration in advance at so that we can plan more effectively. Participation is free of charge.