Lina Lapelytė's 'We Make Years Out of Hours' at Hamburger Bahnhof

Lithuanian artist Lina Lapelytė has unveiled 'We Make Years Out of Hours,' a participatory installation at Hamburger Bahnhof in Berlin, commissioned through the Chanel Culture Fund's partnership with the museum. The work fills the historic central hall with 400,000 wooden blocks, each roughly the size of a Rubik's Cube, which visitors and a professional cast of singers can rearrange into ever-changing structures. The performers, dressed in loose linen and workmen's gloves, sing a libretto composed from poetry by 15 international writers, including a line by Bhanu Kapil: 'This is a spell to stop the loop.' The installation reflects on love, loss, community, and hope, serving as a call for humanity to rebuild together. It draws on the 'Song Celebrations' of Lithuania, a UNESCO-recognized tradition of mass choral gatherings that have preserved folk culture and expressed resistance during Soviet rule. The piece is noted for its intergenerational collaboration, with children and adults building together, though performers also knock down structures, highlighting fragility. The work is on view through January 10, 2026.