We are pleased to share a new photo gallery documenting the International Symposium of the 9th Triennial of Photography Hamburg 2026 — two days filled with dialogue, critical perspectives, and artistic impulses that marked the beginning of this edition.

Opening Evening

The symposium opened on the evening of November 7 2025 with remarks by Dirk Luckow (General Director, Deichtorhallen Hamburg), a welcome note by Carsten Brosda (Senator for Culture and Media, Hamburg), and a curatorial introduction by Mark Sealy (Artistic Director, 9th Triennial).

This was followed by a keynote by human rights lawyer Wolfgang Kaleck, “The Concrete Utopia of Human Dignity” — a compelling call to understand art and culture as spaces of responsibility and imagination.

Already during this first evening, it became clear how photography and the arts today can open new perspectives on justice, dignity, and humanity.

Day Two

The second day, held on 8 November 2025,began with Aruna D’Souza, who offered a clear reminder that empathy cannot replace political action — solidarity, she noted, is an obligation, not a feeling.

Naeem Mohaiemen then examined the puzzling absence of socialist exiles from East German state archives and the ways their disappearance shapes political memory.

In “Threads of Solidarity”, Moshtari Hilal, Sinthujan Varatharajah, and Emma Lehbib discussed how media, political, and civil structures shape — and disrupt — the possibilities of solidarity.

The day continued with nora chipaumire, whose performance “Without Justice the Rest Cannot Exist” combined movement and music into an urgent call for justice, setting the entire room in motion.

Claudia Rankine concluded with a reading from “Triage”, reflecting on “collapse” as a moment in which new realities can emerge.

Explore the Gallery

The new online gallery gathers visual impressions from both days of the International Symposium — moments that will continue to resonate as we move toward the opening of the 9th Triennial.

View the gallery here.