A new large-scale sonic installation and performance by Lithuanian interdisciplinary artist Lina Lapelytė will open at the Hamburger Bahnhof — Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart in Berlin on May 1st as part of Berlin Gallery Weekend 2026. Selected as the second iteration of the Chanel Commission, performances of the work, We Make Years Out of Hours (2026), will take place on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays through January 10, 2027. A public preview will take place on April 30th.
The work transforms the museum’s vast historic hall into a monumental space for collaboration, construction, and contemplation. Spread across the former train hall are 400,000 small wooden cubes, which are stacked neatly in formations or scattered in piles. Visitors are invited to build and dismantle temporary structures with the blocks, while a libretto centered around community, love, loss, and hope carries through the space. The lyrics are based on lines from poems by writers and artists including Lebanese artist Etel Adnan, Vietnamese American poet Ocean Vuong, and Palestinian writer Maḥmūd Darwīsh. A dozen performances activate the space at given times to construct and sing alongside the public as a meditation on the power of a collective force.
“As Hamburger Bahnhof marks its 30th anniversary, We Make Years Out of Hours embodies our commitment to shaping an institution grounded in community, participation, and inclusion,” said Sam Bardaouil and Till Fellrath, co-directors of the Hamburger Bahnhof, in a press statement. “Lina Lapelytė’s work challenges us to rethink what a museum can be—not simply a site of display, but a space of encounter, shared authorship, and collective imagination.”
“Lina Lapelytė’s We Make Years Out of Hours exemplifies a form of artistic thinking that brings people together through shared experience, imagination, and care,” added Yana Peel, Chanel’s president of arts, culture, and heritage, in a press statement. “By enabling ambitious works that engage audiences across generations and cultures, the Chanel Culture Fund continues its commitment to fostering creative environments where new ideas can take shape and inspire meaningful dialogue.”
This is the second edition of the Chanel Commission at Hamburger Bahnhof, which provides artists the opportunity to realize ambitious, large-scale projects within the museum’s historic hall for long-term exhibition. The inaugural commission was awarded to Czech artist Klára Hosnedlová for her installation, embrace. The commission is a part of the fashion house’s Chanel culture fund, which supports artists through exhibitions, grants, prizes, and other initiatives.
