Glitter fascinates, flirts and provokes. We encounter it on stages, in children's rooms, in pop culture and on protest posters. The Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg (MK&G) is now the first museum in the world to dedicate a comprehensive exhibition to this dazzling material. Under the title GLITZER, glitter is examined not only as an aesthetic element, but also as a symbol of belonging, empowerment and self-determination.
Around 40 international artists and designers show how glitter is used as a means of performance, protest and the collective staging of marginalized groups. The glittering youth room by Hamburg artist Jenny Schäfer, photographs by Quil Lemons, individually designed skateboards by Mickalene Thomas, GIFs by Molly Soda, show wigs for Olivia Jones by Karl Gadzali and Mohamad Barakat-Götz and a stage outfit by Bill Kaulitz will be on display. From June 2025, the spatial installation Puff Out by the Turkish-Belgian duo :mentalKLINIK will expand the exhibition by 300 square meters of pink glittering floor, on which vacuum cleaner robots create abstract, constantly changing patterns.
Exhibition view "Glitter" © Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg
The exhibition is divided into six chapters that illuminate the many facets of the material. The Hall of Glitter opens with unicorns, sticker albums, dance shoes and cell phone covers - a sparkling cosmos that allows visitors to immerse themselves in the fascination of glitter. In the Glitter up! room, the focus is on the use of glitter in protests and in making marginalized groups visible. Works by Mirjana Mitrovic, Gisela Volá and Mercedes Grassi King show glitter as a feminist practice in Mexico and Argentina. Portraits by Hannah Altman use glitter to make imperfections and taboos visible, while Pansy St. Battie performatively stages her wheelchair in glitter.
Sparkle and Shine presents costumes, wigs, nail art and video works that combine glamor, performance and identity. Youth culture is the focus of Teenage Glitter, in which films, photos and collages reflect growing up in marginalized groups. The Glitter Craft chapter invites visitors to get creative themselves - with workshops, materials and video tutorials by international D.I.Y. artists. Finally, Glittermania conveys the history and production of glitter from antiquity to the present day, from Cleopatra to its invention in New Jersey in 1934 to Taylor Swift's The Eras Tour in 2024.
GLITZER shows that the sparkling material is far more than a decorative accessory: it can be an expression of resistance, joy, self-empowerment and collective solidarity - a reflection on society, identity and cultural power.
until October 26, 2025
www.mkg-hamburg.de
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