CHANEL Commission: Lina Lapelytė will transforms Hamburger Bahnhof with ‘We Make Years Out of Hours’

As part of the CHANEL Commission, Lina Lapelytė will present We Make Years Out of Hours at the Hamburger Bahnhof – National Gallery of Contemporary Art from May 1st, 2026, to January 10th, 2027. Unveiled during Gallery Weekend Berlin, this significant project will bring a new dimension to performance-led contemporary art during the museum’s anniversary year.

A tribute to sound, time and the collective experience

For the second edition of the CHANEL Commission, Lina Lapelytė will take over the Historic Hall, creating a vast, polyphonic stage where visitors will become active participants. Renowned for her immersive works that blend sound, ritual and labour, the artist has created an evolving performance that dissolves the distinctions between sculpture and choreography, and between individual and collective presence.

At the heart of the exhibition is a large-scale participatory installation conceived as a “living monument”. Through shared acts of singing and movement, the space becomes a place of connection, exploring themes of time, care, and coexistence. Rather than being a fixed display, the work continuously unfolds, being shaped by the voices and actions of those who enter it.

This approach reflects Lapelytė’s wider practice, which often brings together trained and untrained performers to challenge systems of silence and encourage vulnerability and collective expression.

The CHANEL Commission: reimagining space and scale

Supported by the CHANEL Culture Fund, the annual CHANEL Commission initiative empowers artists to realise ambitious, large-scale projects. Taking place in the monumental 2,500-square-metre hall of Hamburger Bahnhof, the programme redefines how contemporary art can inhabit architectural space.

Following the inaugural edition in 2025, the second chapter with Lina Lapelytė continues to expand the dialogue between art, audience, and environment, establishing the museum as a space for openness, participation, and experimentation.

As part of the institution’s 30th anniversary programme, We Make Years Out of Hours invites visitors to step inside a constantly shifting artwork that exists in both form and shared experience.