Hidden History – Facets of Subculture in Frankfurt Rhine-Main
18.04.2026 — 17.05.2026
Opening: 17 April 2026, 6 pm
Night of the Museums: 25 April 2026, 7 pm – 1 am (Hip Hop Night with Janina Jackson, Dascha Reimt, Gunnpassion, Momma Rose and DJ Raenah)
Annette Gloser (feat. Silke Thoss), Croyde Mirandon / Patrick Soulier, Die Schmiere, Hannibal Tarkan Daldaban, Heiner Blum, Honji Wang, Labelstore, Leonard Kahlcke, Oguz Sen, Rushy Diamond, Schwarzi
Events with/about Die Schmiere, Dr. Atmo (Amir Abadi), Hannibal Tarkan Daldaban, Fahrradhalle, Luzi Gehrisch, Oskar-von-Miller-Straße, Rushy Diamond …
The Frankfurter Kunstverein invites the Diamant / Museum for Urban Culture, Offenbach to the Steinernes Haus at Römerberg. Developed through close collaboration, the project unfolds as a four-week cooperation featuring numerous actions, activations, and opportunities for participation.
Hidden History is more than an exhibition. It presents spaces of documentation and reflection on historical and contemporary positions of subversive and subcultural activity through installations, interactive environments, visual wall newspapers, collaborative wall drawings, tape art, performances, and video installations.
Which actors and activities have shaped the scene in Frankfurt–Offenbach–Rhine-Main in recent years? And how do they continue to influence the cultural fabric of the city today?
Culture is usually transmitted through lasting images and texts. Ephemeral and undocumented practices circulate through oral histories, myths, and stories, gradually fading and disappearing over time. This is not only true for distant cultures but also for our own age of information.
The recent cultural history of our region has not been shaped solely by institutions and forms of high culture, along with their networks and publics. Although certain aspects of subculture occasionally enter the cultural pages, beneath the surface there remains a vibrant culture of the street and the urban realm—often below the threshold of what is formally documented, yet highly influential within specific scenes.
Hidden History takes a look behind the scenes of the city and offers glimpses into a cultural sphere that remains hidden from many. This culture, too, has its masters, legends, and masterpieces. In Hidden History, we can discover them together.
The exhibition at the Frankfurter Kunstverein expands the cultural field of perception. Curated by Heiner Blum—who has actively fostered and made visible creative potential for decades—and developed in collaboration with the Kunstverein’s team, the project creates a lively and open platform for cultural research and activity.
The Frankfurter Kunstverein invites visitors to discover new perspectives and to participate playfully. A key component of Hidden History are performative events, lectures, guided tours, and concerts. For children and young people, an extensive workshop programme with artists from the exhibition offers opportunities to rediscover the city and its signs as a space of experience beyond digital habits, opening new analogue possibilities.
Over the course of four weeks, the Frankfurter Kunstverein transforms into a living archive of urban culture—searching for the history of the future.
To encourage visitors to return and experience the exhibition as well as the many performances, workshops, and special events multiple times, the Frankfurter Kunstverein offers reduced admission throughout the exhibition period: €5 per visit. Participation in events or guided tours during a visit is included. For more information, please read here.
