Biography

Hermann Josef Hack,

born June 20, 1956, in Bad Honnef, Germany.

List of art projects, performances, public interventions and exhibitions

1991

Hack founds the GLOBAL BRAINSTORMING PROJECT, which becomes the base of all further projects. He reclaims that only the power of all people around the world will manage the impacts of global change and that art will be the mediator and inspiration to put all this together in a constructive and peaceful way.

1992

Mass Global Deposition Trap Experiment
All around the world special sculptures, so-called ideas-collectors, get installed aboard vessels, planes, research platforms and in the streets, one even on board the D2 space mission, to collect those ideas that are not realized yet.

documenta IX, Kassel - Van Gogh TV - piazza virtuale
10 interactive live TV shows entitled "GLOBAL BRAINSTORMING PROJECT - Moby Dick's Eye" are produced and broadcast worldwide via satellite in cooperation with PONTON European Media Art Lab.

1993

Mediale Hamburg
GLOBAL BRAINSTORMING PROJECT - Arts and Science, 6 interactive live TV shows are produced and broadcast in Europe in cooperation with PONTON European Media Art Lab, featuring German research institutions, so that the TV audience can brainstorm with scientists in an interactive, direct way about questions of global concern.

Fax Exchange with F.S. Sonne
For the duration of 8 month, the readers of a German daily newspaper can ask questions to the crew of the German research vessel F.S. Sonne that explores the oceans. Via fax, Hack sends the questions directly to the "Sonne" and within two days gets the answers printed in the newspaper.

Painting Book for Astronauts
A special painting book is designed by Hack and given to astronauts who should complete the drawings after their mission.

Painting Book for Polar Researchers
A special painting book is designed by Hack and given to polar researchers who should complete the drawings after their trip.

Painting Book for Marine Researchers
A special painting book is designed by Hack and given to marine researchers who should complete the drawings after their journey.

GLOBAL BRAINSTORMING IDEAS BANK
A mailbox is set up in Hamburg, where everybody can drop ideas that he or she cannot realize himself or herself, so that other people can use these ideas.

1994

Kunsthaus Hamburg
Virtual Roof Hamburg. A Virtual Roof is organized 600 Meters above the City of Hamburg. Everybody can buy a piece of the sky over Hamburg. The claims of neighbors are managed by a computer. The income of the project is donated to homeless people in Hamburg.

Bonner Kunstwoche
Virtual Roof Bonn. Computer based version of the Virtual Roof, people can choose their claims by mouseclick surfing on an aerial photo of Bonn. The income is donated to homeless people in Bonn.

Cairo, Egypt
WORLD MINISTRY FOR GLOBAL BRAINSTORMING GOES EGYPT - Presentation of the GLOBAL BRAINSTORMING PROJECT to the people of Egypt, performance in the office of the Egypt Minister for Research and Science, Mrs. Venice Kamel, Cairo.

Kunstmuseum Siegburg
Polar Night - On July, 30, the world's first video phone connection between people at the North Pole, the South Pole and the audience in Siegburg, Germany, is realized by Hack. The video phone set now is exposed in the Deutsches Museum, Munich. The record is mentioned in the Guinness Book of Records.

Congress Hall Berlin
On November, 17, Hack opens the Forum Research and Environment with a performance. In cooperation with the German Federal Ministry for Research and Technology and the German music channel VIVA television, he has invited 300 kids to meet the most important German researchers and scientists to brainstorm about environmental development.

Museum Alexander Koenig, Bonn
EUROPOLARPARTY - On November, 26, Hack realizes the world's first video conference with a vessel, the "POLARSTERN" cruising in the Antarctic. Visitors of the event can brainstorm with the crew of the polar expedition on board the ship and with polar researchers in Sankt Petersburg, Russia. The event is supported by the European Commission.

X-Base, Munich
Virtual message in a bottle to the North Pole, the South Pole and the equator, broadcast live in the TV show "X-Base" on December, 6, ZDF German television: The audience can interact by phone and fax.

1995

UN-Climate Conference, Berlin
Global Switch - On April, 4, at 8:50 p.m., everybody who wants to be active for a better environment, switches off all lights available to give his neighbors a sign, that together we can change the global situation.

Geotechnika, Cologne
From pole to pole - performance with polar researchers at both poles connected by video phones, broadcast live by WDR German television.

Nevada, Arizona and California
The GLOBAL BRAINSTORMING PROJECT is presented by Hack to the citizens of different cities in Nevada, Arizona and California on a round trip.

ART Cologne '95
Performance "I will take all homeless to the ART Cologne" and opening of the Virtual Roof Cologne that is presented for the first time in the internet/world wide web. Homeless people are given free art graphics made by Hack they can sell and keep the income while Hack is showing homeless around the art fair.

KUNSTMUSEUM BONN
Opening of the GLOBAL BRAINSTORMING CYBER CAFE, where visitors of the Kunstmuseum Bonn have free access to Hack's internet projects and find out what art in the web means.

HACK HYPERMEDIA virtual institute for the future
is founded by Hack.

"ICH, PHOENIX", Gasometer Oberhausen
The Virtual Roof Ruhrgebiet, 600 Meters above the Ruhr District, Germany, is established in the internet >www.hack-roof.de< on the occasion of the exhibition "ICH, PHOENIX" in the Gasometer Oberhausen, from May, 18 to November, 30, with Katharina Sieverding, Jochen Gerz, Marie-Jo Lafontaine, Thomas Ruff, Anne and Patrick Poirier. In return for a piece of the sky over the Ruhr District, people shall leave a vision, how the area beneath their claim should look like ten years later.

1997

CeBIT Hanover
The Virtual Roof Hanover is presented on a free CD-ROM, that is distributed by computer magazines. Three entry points, where homeless people in Hanover get free access to a special homepage for homeless with the "Cyber Camp" chat-room are established in the city. Hack shows homeless around the CeBIT computer fair and evokes discussions with those who are responsible for the development of media society. The MAGNA CARTA MULTIMEDIA, a bill of equal rights for all members of the coming media society is set up by Hack and presented on his web page.

documenta X, Kassel
What are the future prospects of art? Hack asks the web community to talk about their ideas and visions of the future of fine arts. A special forum is hosted by his site >www.hack-roof.de<. In cooperation with the Kassel street magazine for homeless, Hack distributes his free CD-ROM with the Virtual Roof and provides free access for homeless in the Kassel internet café.

Kunst- und Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, Bonn/
Electric Garden - SIGGRAPH'97, Los Angeles Convention Center
CHARLES LINDBERGH'S LAST DREAM - Visitors of the Kunst- und Ausstellungshalle Bonn join Hack by video conference painting pictures in L.A. that get transported via internet to Bonn where they get printed in maximum size and fixed to the museum's walls minutes after their creation.

Ars Electronica'97, Linz/Austria
Hack gets awarded a prize for the Virtual Roof >www.hack-roof.de< in the net cathegory.

documenta X, Kassel, Performance on Sept. 27, 1997
Hack shows a group of Kassel homeless around the documenta and provides them a continuous free access to internet facilities in the local media café.

ART Cologne, Homepage of the Forgotten People, starting November 8, 1997
Hack installs internet domains with the names of people who are supported by amnesty international. In the city of Cologne, banners with these internet sites lead people to these addresses in the web.

1998

Internet Baroque, Online-Internet-Performance in the KUNSTMUSEUM BONN, February 8, 1998
With the equipment of the traditional painter Hack challenges the electronic banality of Internet to fight: new media, represented by the Internet, versus the traditional media, represented here by action painting.

ARME-SOCKEN-TEPPICH, a carpet made of socks given by unemployed people and their friends, is a work in progress, started on September 12, 1998. Hack rolls out this carpet to welcome those members of society who are used to be welcome by a red carpet, people who represent the upper society. The Socks Carpet is not only a symbol of the increasing unemployment , it also encourages the huge number of those who do not want to come out being one of the "losers" as it offers a special way of networking. The ARME-SOCKEN-TEPPICH project is a cooperation with independent members of unemployed people in Germany. On December 7, 1998 and February 25, 1999, Hack rolls out the carpet in the entrance of the Federal Chancellery in Bonn.

1999

The Machida Museum of Graphic Arts, Tokyo, presents The Virtual Roof as the only German Internet art project in the Media Arts Plaza

The Deutsches Institut für Japanstundien, Tokyo, shows an exhibition of new works which Hack calls "Internet for the poor".

ARME-SOCKEN-TEPPICH, the carpet made of socks given by unemployed people and their friends, is rolled out again on February 25, July 6 and December 12 in the entrance of the Federal Chancellery in Bonn and Berlin.

The European Alliance for New Work "arbeit für zukunft e.V." is founded by Hack in Bonn to provide a platform for the concerns of unemployed people and those who want to help them designing a new work quality for the future.

hack-i.de
This Internet art project offers to its users the possibility of creating a work of art in cooperation with Hermann Josef Hack. Composing a series of Hack's drawings, the user gets his or her individual comic strip. By using slow motion technology, Hack promotes deceleration, which is a very important aspect of his work.

Zukunftsbrötchen, DASA Deutsche Arbeitsschutz Ausstellung Dortmund
In cooperation with the bakers guild of Dortmund Hack creates special rolls shaped like racing cars. The paper bags they are wrapped in are printed with certain statements of young people concerning their future expectations. People who buy these rolls are invited to write down their personal expectations and visions of their future work situation and send them to the DASA Museum, where they get analyzed and signed by Hack to be returned to the presenters.

Recht so? (Is that right?) Installation in the Local Court of Königswinter (Sept. 9 - Oct. 30)
Hack shows drawings and sketches which he fixes right to the walls of the Local Court. He mixes copies and originals of his very intimated part of work as the court is also a place where people have to reveal their privacy. The exhibition reminds of reproductive cloning and the problem of differentiating between the original and its copy.

2000

Cooperation with metropolis.de
Hack starts his cooperation with Germans biggest Internet community www.metropolis.de, at that time hosting more than 800.000 members. Hack's intension is to promote social responsibility in the Internet community.

Ultimedia, Exhibition in the Museum of the City of Siegburg (March 31 - April 30)
Starting with a live Internet performance, the Museum of the City of Siegburg presents an exhibition of Hacks paintings and drawings of the last two years.

Suchtrupp Zukunft für Zukunftslose, Expo 2000, Hanover
On July 8, Hack leads a group of unemployed and homeless people through the World Exhibition Expo 2000, to discuss the future aspects of people who are segregated by society with the people concerned.

Media Attacks Exhibition, Hamburg
In the studios of the TV production company MME Hamburg Hack shows his new paintings on plastic canvas.

Tower of Power
Hack constructs a virtual tower just above the German Parliament, the Bundestag in Berlin, located in the German Reichstag. Everybody can move into a virtual flat and join the Members of Parliament by email. Hack offers online chats with the politicians and their virtual neighbors and invites the inhabitants of the Tower of Power to write down their visions of democracy in cyberspace. The project is an experiment to preserve the ultimate principles of democracy in the age of cyberspace.

2001

Börsianer Bibel - The bible of stock exchange speculators, Städel Museum Frankfurt
Hack presents a 2,50 to 4,00 meters book made of plastic canvas to a crowd of 800 brokers, bankers and economy journalists in the Städel Museum Frankfurt. The book is composed of drawings and paintings Hack made for stock exchange speculators. The money-people come down on their knees and write down on the pages what they think are the most important values for them. Later this special bible is shown in front of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and in a church.

Technomads exhibition, Jörg Heitsch Gallery, Munich
From May, 5 to August 18, the Jörg Heitsch Gallery shows new paintings of Hermann Josef Hack, during the opening, people are connected with the inhabitants of the Tower of Power by Internet.

Ultimedia exhibition in the former Deutscher Bundestag, the Parliament in Bonn
June 8 - 10.

Zukunft ist das Brot von heute (Future is our daily bread from today), in front of Cologne Cathedral
Performance with passers-by who are invited to be seated at a long table where they are offered bread in the shape of chromosomes, planes cars or houses. With their neighbors they talk about and write down on the table cloth, what now is to be done to design a social future.

Aufbruch (decampment into the future), Berlin
Performance with the Federal Minister for Agriculture on a field which was cultivated in the middle of the city of Berlin only for one day so that children could seed crop for the future, symbolizing a new thinking in agricultural policy on September 10.

Wald-Neuzugang performance Bad Honnef, 0ctober 23.

ART Cologne, DubistKoeln.de (You are Cologne)
On the international art fair Hack presents the new Internet project www.DubistKoeln.de. People can rename every street name of the City of Cologne, changing the names of famous streets into their family name or dedecate the name to a victim of the September 11 victims who died in WTC. A new map of the City of Cologne is growing in the Internet and documented by Hack.

Mirror Africa, Jörg Heitsch Gallery, Munich (participation)
Exhibition of paintings together with Walter Dahn, Jiri Dokoupil, Ugo Dossi, Christian Hernsleth, November 27 to January 31, 2002.

God Bless Allah, UN-Conference on Afghanistan, Petersber/Bonn
Hack shows a big banner saying "God bless Allah.com" in front of the building where the delegates talk about the future of Afghanistan. Hack's website offers a platform for discussion about peaceful ways to avoid a clash of cultures.

2002

Kinder wagen, performance in front of Cologne Cathedral, May 5
Together with young parents Hack forms a corral out of baby carriages to appeal to the solidarity with young families in society.

Kunst des Teilens, Frankfurt
On May, 21, Hack is painting two works on Frankfurts most famous shopping street "Zeil", dedicated to homeless people in Frankfurt.

Weltgedächtnis (world memory), Rhein-Sieg-Kunstverein Siegburg
Exhibition May, 24 to July 31 with Andreas Pohlmann about durability of human memory technologies and who decides what has the chance to be passed down to further generations (catalog Weltgedächtnis).

Documenta 11, DubistKassel.de (you are Kassel)
On the international art exhibition Hack presents the new Internet project www.DubistKassel.de. People can rename every street name of the City of Kassel, changing the names of famous streets into their family name or whatever they want. A new map of the City of Kassel with a special host offering service is growing in the Internet and documented by Hack.

New work order
In cooperation with the Centre for New Work Kassel, Hack provides a communication location for documenta visitors, making them exchange ideas and visions of a future work situation.

Weltgedächtnis, Jörg Heitsch Gallery, Munich
Exhibition from June 20 to September 10 parallel to the Siegburg exhibition.

Fiftyfifty@D11, Documenta 11, Kassel
On August 27, Hack leads a group of homeless artists through the Documenta 12 exhibition. The director of the documenta welcomes the group and the media, which accompany the visitors, communicate what are the most important impressions of the homeless and how we can help them.

Mut zur Wahrheit (be courageous to face the truth), Chancellory Berlin
On September 9, Hack rolls out a carpet made of the socks of thousands of unemployed people in Germany in front of the Chancellory of the Chancellor of the German Federal Republic to appeal to the politicians to tell people the truth about the real dimension of mass unemployment in Germany.

Rich Art Bread Branding, Marienplatz, Munich
On September 12 Hack makes a performance with passers-by who are invited to be seated at a long table where they are offered bread which has been branded (by branding irons) with the labels of famous luxury brands. With their neighbors they talk about and write down on the table cloth, what they consider their daily bread. The table cloth, painted by Hack  later is fixed to a stretcher and sold at auction in the Heitsch gallery. The income is dedicated to the charity organization Brot für die Welt.

Global Brainstorming, exhibition Jörg Heitsch Gallery Munich
Exhibition from September 13 to October 5 with public guides during the Open Art Munich weekend.

2003

Atlantis Art Award, Arona/Tenerife
On January 11, the Atlantis Art Award is awarded to Hermann Josef Hack, for the first time to an artist. The laudation is held by the director of the Federal Art and Exhibition Hall of the Federal Republic of Germany, Dr. Wenzel Jacob. Hack is honored for his "active mission against hunger, environmental degradation, brainwashing of the people and war". With the award Hack is invited to exhibit his latest paintings in the future lab Mariposa, Tenerife.

Copyright of Life, First German Ecumenical Church Congress, Berlin
Hack paints the copyright symbol on the naked breasts of people to decry the world wide patent registration of food.

God Bless Allah, Cologne Cathedral
On May, 5, Hack  constructs an altar in front of Cologne Cathedral with the banner "God bless Allah".

God Bless Allah, Berlin
On May, 30, Hack  constructs an altar on Alexanderplatz with the banner "God bless Allah".

Heimat-Kunde, Bonn (local history)
On September 6, Hack writes with big letters down on the ground of a public square idioms for "home" and "escape" that passers-by tell him.

Mea Culpa Art Recycling, Art Fair Cologne
From October 29 to November 1, Hack recycles Paintings for free, which visitors of the Art Fair Cologne take there.

9extra, 9 Curators, 9 Positions, Nassauischer Kunstverein Wiesbaden
From November 9 to December 21, Hack shows an installation with plastic canvas painted during a performance on the opening night.

Hack macht dem Reichstag Beine
Traveling exhibition of paintings about the German Reichstag under the patronage of Uwe Schummer, Member of the German Parliament.

2004

HilfDirDuden
An oversize book made out of plastic canvas is fabricated and painted by Hack and members of different self-help groups to get the awareness of the public when they present it in public areas.

Welcher Glaube versetzt deine Berge, Kölner Stadtanzeiger Newspaper, Siegburg
The Kölner Stadtanzeiger daily newspaper prints a whole page designed by Hack in its weekend issue (July 17).

Global Balance, Goethe-Institute Athens, Greece
On August 6, Hack constructs a sculpture made of 1.000 balance scales, each scale signed by a person who wrote down what needs to be balanced for a better future. The symbol for sustainability is presented in the yard the Goethe-Institute Athens by the Mayor of the City of Athens, Dora Bakoyanni, and the German Ambassador, Paul Spiegel. Two days later the sculpture is built up again at the bottom of the Acropolis, Athens shortly before the opening of the Olympic Summer Games 2004.

God Bless Allah, one man show in the European Central Gallery Jürgen Steinmetz Frankfurt
From September 3 to October 2, Hack presents new paintings in the gallery.

Botschaft zum Glück: Ich will schreiben lernen, Reichstag Berlin
On September 8, the world alphabetization day, Hack writes down on the ground in front of the German Reichstag "I want to learn to write" again and again with the help of several analphabets, about one hundred times in big letters.

Ich kleide dich in Worte (I vest you with words)
On November 10 Hack writes down on the skin of a naked person the terms for the different clothes, just vesting this person with words. The event is part of the German Alphabetization Congress.

Global Balance
On November 11 Hack constructs another sculpture out of 1.000 balance scales on Alexanderplatz, Berlin as side event to the annual congress of the German Council for Sustainable Development. The German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder presents Hack's sculpture to the media in a special press conference.

2005

Art for Science Aid, ICE-train station Siegburg/Bonn
Together with the concrete painter Karl Peter Kremer Hack presents new paintings in the new train station building as a charity project to the victims of the tsunami.

Morgen-Wald (forest of tomorrow)
Hack gets the award "Head of the Month" by the Austrian Federal Ministry for Life Sciences. He designs an Internet art work www.nachhaltigkeit.at/morgen-wald where people can leave messages to the future by scratching hearts in the bark of a virtual forest.

Global Balance Siegburg
On October 15, Hack makes a crew of international high ranking scientists form a circle holding each a balance scale and trying to balance this circle for a while.

Global Balance Erfurt
On November 15, Hack builds a sculpture with the shape of a bee-hive together with the people of the city of Erfurt and the members of the UNESCO-Conference on Education.

2006

No Exhibiton at - The Museum Ludwig, Cologne, the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art New York, the National Museum of China Beijing, The Moderna Museet Stockholm and others
Hack offers to 25 famous museums for contemporary art worldwide not to exhibit his paintings of the series "God bless Allah" or "New Portraits of the Prophet" during a certain period of time. This preventive self censorship provokes a discussion about the importance of defending the rights of free expression of opinion and the danger of fanatics motivated by religious totalitarianism. The museums addressed by Hack follow his demand not to show his paintings by different reasons which will be documented here soon.

Global Goal - Art Project on the occasion ot the FIFA Soccer World Championship Germany 2006

In Coorperation with the Hohenheim University, Germany, Hack creates a sculpture made of scale levels in the shape of an oversize ball. This symbol of sustainability will be shown during the world championship and brought to public audiences in order to make them participate by writing on the scales what must be balanced to achieve a sustainable society.

 

I want to learn the future

On 27 October, Hack rolls out a 14metre long and 1.5 metre wide, orange-coloured carpet on weather-proof sheeting in the centre of Erfurt and asks passers-by to call out what they would like to learn. Hack writes down these resolutions along with the people’s first names, age and home towns, thus providing documentation of a cross-section of the population. On 6 November, the carpet is unrolled in front of delegates of Thuringia’s Parliament to emphasize the importance of lifelong learning on the occasion of an international conference within the framework of the UN Decade “Education for Sustainable Development”.

2007

Hack declares Bonn a Climate Refugee Camp

On 8 February, Hack declares the whole of the Federal City of Bonn a climate refugee camp. He hands out his declaration in front of the Bundeskunsthalle and the Bonn Kunstmuseum and puts up signs with the words "Klimaflüchtlingslager (Climate Refugee Camp) in front of the Bundeskunsthalle Bonn". On 9 February, he declares the newly opened building of the Bonn Kunstverein (art association) climate refugee quarters and hands its Director, Christina Végh, his declaration. Hack puts up a sign which he has painted himself on the outside wall of the Kunstverein with the words "Klimaflüchtlingslager Bonner Kunstverein".

Hack declares Cologne a Climate Refugee Camp

On 20 April, Hack declares the city of Cologne a climate refugee camp speaking in front of Museum Ludwig and in front of ART Cologne. He puts up signs to this effect on the respective buildings.

Hack declares the documenta 12 a Climate Refugee Camp

Hack declares the documenta 12 a climate refugee camp on 13 June, the day of the opening press conference and on 16 June, during the opening ceremony attended by Federal President Horst Köhler. He attaches a banner to the pillars of the Fridericianum Museum and declares the whole campus of the exhibition a climate refugee camp from the steps of the Fridericianum. With the help of the German Red Cross, Hack pitches a climate refugee camp on the campus of Kassel University where he receives numerous passers-by for a brainstorming on “concrete aid for refugees in Kassel”.

Hack declares Amsterdam a Climate Refugee Camp

On 3 August, Hack declares the city of Amsterdam a climate refugee camp and symbolically builds a fence in front of the Museum of City History and the Stedelijk Museum of modern art with banners. On Kalverstraat, he also unrolls a call for all the people of Amsterdam to give climate refugees a friendly reception.

Hack declares the island of Mallorca a Climate Refugee Camp

In various sites on the island, Hack declares the whole of Mallorca a climate refugee camp on 24 August.

Hack declares the Reichstag a Climate Refugee Camp

Together with the Vice-President of the German Bundestag, Katrin Göring-Eckardt, and the MP Uwe Schummer, Hack declares the seat of the German Parliament a climate refugee camp on 20 September and puts up signs to this effect on the building as well as signposts all over the centre of Berlin.

Hack declares the island of Bali a Climate Refugee Camp

Speaking in front of the UN Climate Secretariat in Bonn on 29 November, Hack declares the island of Bali, the venue of the World Climate Conference, a climate refugee camp. He sets up a miniature climate refugee camp in front of the UN building and presents Luboyera Festus of the Climate Secretariat with an appeal for delegates at the conference to stop ignoring the interests of climate refugees.

Hack declares the UNHCR Regional Representation in Berlin a Climate Refugee Camp

On 7 December, Hack declares the regional representation of the UN Commissioner for Refugees for Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic in Berlin a climate refugee camp, pitches a miniature climate refugee camp in front of the office and calls upon the UNHCR to recognize human rights for climate refugees, which is not yet the case under the Geneva Convention.

Climate Refugee Camp Bali

Exhibition at the Caesar Foundation in Bonn Hack exhibits his climate refugee camp at the Caesar Foundation (www.caesar.de) in Bonn from 29 November to 15 December, the period of the World Climate Conference.

2008

Climate Refugee Camp in the Post-Tower, Bonn

From 17 March to 23 May Hack sets up a climate refugee camp in the foyer of the Post Tower, the headquarters of Deutsche Post AG World Net in Bonn, and exhibits four large paintings dealing with “Social coldness against global warming”.

Climate Refugee Camp Paris

From 25 to 29 March, Hack travels around the French capital and declares it a climate refugee camp. Performances in front of the Eiffel Tower and the Palace of Versailles.

ART give Asylum – Performance on the occasion of ART Cologne

On 15 April, Hack pitches a climate refugee camp with approximately 300 tents in front of the main entrance of the ART Cologne art fair and symbolically requests asylum for climate refugees. The organizers of the fair turn Hack away and literally leave him and his tents standing out in the rain.

UN Conference of Contracting Parties in Bonn is surrounded by a Climate Refugee Camp

On 28 May, Hack pitches his climate refugee camp in front of the World Congress Center Bonn, the venue for the UN Conference on Biological Diversity, and draws the attention of delegates from throughout the world to the need to recognize the status of climate refugees.

Hack appeals to the UN Secretary General

On 16 July, Hack calls upon UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, during the latter’s visit to Bonn, to recognize the status of climate refugees.

Climate Refugee Camp Weimar

On 19 September, Hack in cooperation with Brot für die Welt pitches a climate refugee camp in front of the German National Theatre in Weimar, around the world-famous Goethe and Schiller monument.

“World Climate Refugee Camp” exhibition in Berlin

From13 to 23 October, Hack shows his “World Climate Refugee Camp” exhibition with large-format paintings on tarpaulin, works on paper and a selection of tent sculptures at the Press and Information Centre of the Press and Information Office of the Federal Government. At the opening on 13 October, Hack together with Michael Müller, MP, Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of the Environment, pitches a climate refugee camp on the Reichstagsufer and declares the government district a climate refugee camp.

Climate Refugee Guide Berlin at the Frankfurt Book Fair

On 17 and 18 October, Hack presents his first travel guide for climate refugees at the Frankfurt Book Fair and pitches a climate refugee camp in front of the European Central Bank in Frankfurt with 350 miniature tents. Partners are the Frankfurt Book Fair, the City of Frankfurt, the Klimabündnis Frankfurt (climate alliance) and the Entwicklungspolitische Netzwerk Hessen e.V (development policy alliance).

2009

World Climate Refugee Camp, transmediale09 Berlin

On January 26, Hack places a climate refugee camp with 400 miniature tents in front of the Berlin landmark Brandenburg Gate, invited by the transmediale09 exhibition. This intervention attracts the attention of thousands of visitors and international media. On January 27, Hack pitches his camp in Alexanderplatz, where he also gets the awareness of many Berlin people.

Climate Refugee Camp Leipzig

On Saturday, 16 May, Hack set up a climate refugee camp with more than 500 miniature tents in front of the town hall of Leipzig. This intervention, presented with the support of the GRASSI Museum fuer Voelkerkunde zu Leipzig, did attract public attention to the plight of millions of people already suffering from climate change impacts.

Climate Refugee Camp Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden

On May 28, Hack occupies the court of the Japanisches Palais with five hundreds of his miniature tents and declares the Museum a climate refugee camp. He was invited by the director general of the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, Prof. Dr. Martin Roth, who presented Hack's installation to the public. The next day, Hack's camp is put up in the court of the Residenzpalast Dresden, home of the famous Grünes Gewölbe, a main attraction to visitors from all over the world, who now get in touch with the plight of climate refugees.

Climate Refugee Camp Offenbach

On June 18, Hack places his camp with 600 tents in the market place of Offenbach, where in the evening he takes part in a discussion with environmental and migration activists about the need to cope with arts; demanding: ONLY ART WILL STOP CLIMATE CHANGE

Climate Refugee Camp Frankfurt/Main Airport

On 19 June, Hack declares Frankfurt Airport a climate refugee camp. With the help of 30 activists, who smuggle 255 miniature refugee tents in their luggage bags to Terminal 1 B, Hack pitches his camp right in front of the information board. Passengers witness the public intervention with interest. After a short while, security staff assisted by the police tries to stop Hack's performance. Hack involves them in the discussion about how their airport will increase the climate change damages on one hand and the victims of climate war on the other.