BERLIN.- Sophie Calle is presenting her first solo exhibition in Berlin for over 20 years at Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart. In her art, Calle explores the effects of memory, loss and history. Six groups of works spanning three decades, comprising photography, text, installation and video, showcase the French conceptual artist's diverse use of media. The exhibition also traces Calle's long-standing connection to Berlin: from 'Detachment' – a work on the dismantling of GDR monuments, created in 1996, the year the museum was founded – to a new work on the history of the Berlin Palace in Mitte, which Calle created to mark the 30th anniversary of Hamburger Bahnhof.

Visitors to the exhibition 'Sophie Calle. Is It Better?' at Hamburger Bahnhof read Berliners' memories of distant monuments from the former German Democratic Republic (GDR), look for traces of experience in the faces of people seeing the sea for the first time, or encounter the ghosts from Sophie Calle's early days as an artist in Paris at the former Orsay railway station. Explanatory texts by the artist on the creation of the photographs, videos and installations guide viewers through her first exhibition in Berlin in 20 years.

The exhibition takes as its starting point a work from the 'Detachment' series in the collection of Hamburger Bahnhof, created in Berlin in 1996, the year the museum was founded. The twelve photographs of public places in Berlin, from which symbols of the GDR were removed following reunification, are accompanied by descriptions provided by passers-by. These illustrate just how different memory and perception can be. The face of a Lenin statue is remembered as either friendly or menacing; a peace dove is described as being made of white ceramic or of gold. The GDR emblem, which was removed from the former Palace of the Republic, is considered hideous by some and beautiful by others.

In 2012, Calle returned to Berlin and created the work 'Is it better I', on which the exhibition title is based. The focus is on the site where the Berlin Palace once stood. The former residence of the German Emperor was demolished after the Second World War. In 1976, the Palace of the Republic opened on this site, housing the GDR parliament as well as cultural and leisure facilities. Following reunification, it was closed and demolished by 2008. Calle photographed the resulting open space and asked passers-by: 'Is it better?'. The work is being donated to the collection of Hamburger Bahnhof. Specifically for this exhibition she created 'Is it better II' in 2026. In the meantime, the Berlin Palace has been rebuilt and the Humboldt Forum has opened. Once again, passers-by's responses are displayed alongside photographs of the site.

In the three adjoining rooms, the installation 'The Ghosts of Orsay', comprising over three hundred objects, is on display for the first time since its creation for the Musée d'Orsay in Paris in 2022. Between 1978 and 1981, Calle spent most of her days in Room 501 of the abandoned hotel in the former Gare d'Orsay railway station, which, like Hamburger Bahnhof, later became an art museum. At the museum's invitation, Calle returned in 2022 during the second Covid-19 lockdown and created the installation using found objects, photographs and texts.

The second part of the exhibition begins with works from the series 'Picassos in lockdown' (2022), which features photographs of covered paintings against grey walls. Similar to 'The Ghosts of Orsay', the story behind its creation is also linked to Covid. Whilst visiting the Musée Picasso in Paris during lockdown to prepare for an exhibition, Calle photographed Pablo Picasso's paintings, which had been covered for protection. The ongoing series 'Because' (since 2018) playfully reverses the usual hierarchy between text and image. Upon entering the room, visitors first see frames covered by felt curtains, which are often employed to protect historic, light-sensitive works. As visitors approach, they can decern lines embroidered into the fabric, explaining the reason why the artist took the photograph hidden behind the curtain. The exhibition concludes with the video installation 'Voir la mer' (2011). It is the first of Calle's works in which the artist has deliberately omitted text. She heard about residents living on the outskirts of Istanbul who had never seen the sea. With the help of a local organisation, Calle invited people from the area surrounding the city to be filmed as they caught their first glimpse of the sea.

Sophie Calle (born 1953 in Paris) lives and works in Malakoff, France. She works across photography, text, performance and video, and explores themes such as voyeurism, surveillance, love, intimacy, violence and death. In most of her conceptually driven series, she combines image and text. In 2007, she represented France at the Biennale di Venezia. Her works have been exhibited internationally at institutions including the Art Institute of Chicago, Centre Pompidou Paris, Musée d'Orsay Paris, Tate Britain London, Hara Museum Tokyo, Musée Picasso Paris, and Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Santiago. Calle's works are held in major collections such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, as well as the Louisiana Museum (DNK) and Nationalgalerie – Staatliche Museen zu Berlin.

The exhibition is part of the programme celebrating 30 years of Hamburger Bahnhof. In 2026, the museum marks its 30th anniversary with a programme that bridges its history and its future: eight special exhibitions, a new collection presentation, as well as performances and concerts extending the museum's reach into the city. The highlight will be the anniversary weekend from 14 to 15 November, featuring an international conference on the future of museums collecting contemporary art and continuous 30-hour opening hours with free admission.

The exhibition will be accompanied by an edition of the Hamburger Bahnhof catalogue series, published by Silvana Editoriale in Winter 2026 (12 Euro).

The exhibition is curated by Sam Bardaouil, Director of Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart, and Lisa Hörstmann, curator at Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart.