As daylight fades, neon signs illuminate St. Pauli, transforming the district into a vibrant hub of encounters and possibilities. For the third edition of Night Shifts, we invite you to discover the night’s unique blend of subcultures, sex work, tourism, bars, clubs, culture, and trash. Here, diverse desires intersect, sparking both connections and inevitable friction.

Within the establishments of the Reeperbahn, artistic interventions by Jemima Rose Dean, Simone Karl, Jil Lahr, and Janis von Rohden come to life across three locations. Their works delve into the neighborhood’s contrasts, weaving narratives of pleasure, power, sensuality, and intoxication.

At 9:30 pm, we’ll gather at Hans-Albers-Platz, beside the entrance to the sex shop and porn cinema Sexy Angel. Here, the three Nachtwächterinnen (night watchwomen) will launch the evening and reveal three locations around Reeperbahn, inviting the audience to explore the artistic interventions in their own order and at their own pace.

Meeting Point: 9:30 pm, Sexy Angel, Hans-Albers-Platz 9, Hamburg

Additional Opening Hours: The exhibition featuring works by Simone Karl will also be open on Sunday, May 31, 3 pm–6 pm. The meeting point is at Sexy Angel.

Accessibility: Attendance at the event is restricted to persons aged 18 and over. You can find our Code of Conduct and additional accessibility information here.

On Night Shifts 3

Neon light, shimmering neon light. And at the fall of night, this city is made of light, sings Kraftwerk in 1978. The Reeperbahn is not a street that is simply illuminated at night; it is a street that only fully comes into existence at night. When daylight fades, the neon signs of St. Pauli begin to glow. They want to inform, to lure, to draw the gaze. Strip, Live Show, Girls, Table Dance, Eros Center, Sexy Angel. Just as light needs darkness to reveal its full radiance – the sun shining in the cosmos, or fire flickering deep within the forest – the glittering spotlights of Hamburg’s Reeperbahn only come alive against the backdrop of night. These radiant lights are not merely a contrast to the district’s shadows; they are an essential partner, illuminating and intensifying the allure of the Reeperbahn after dark. In the darkness of St. Pauli, there are detours, abysses, machinations, freedoms, hiding places, space for ambiguity, playfulness, and transformation. In the beams of light, gazes meet, forces are released, and shame is shaken off, or, at times, even stripped away entirely.

The third edition of Night Shifts unfolds across three venues along the Reeperbahn. These sites, integral to St. Pauli’s nightlife, are activated by artistic interventions from Jemima Rose Dean, Simone Karl, Jil Lahr, and Janis von Rohden. Their works examine artistic practice across the entertainment industry, subculture, and sex work.

In the labyrinthine corridors of the sex booth cinema Sexy Angel, we encounter the work of artist Simone Karl. She occupies this site of heterosexual male desire with an emancipatory story from her own family. At a time when divorce was unthinkable, her great-aunt took a saw to her marriage bed, splitting it in two. In Karl’s newly created multimedia installation, saw blades come together to form objects that possess both aesthetic appeal and an undercurrent of menace. They cut through the dark, oppressive setting of the sex cinema like a saw through a wooden bed. For her video works, shown in place of the usual porn films on the monitors in the booths, she draws inspiration from a found advertising image. A woman is shown licking a dangerously sharp circular saw blade. “Sharper than sharp!” the advertisement claims. Simone Karl reenacts this scene – a brutal, male sexual fantasy – from the perspective of a woman reclaiming her boundaries, literally freeing herself through sawing. This erotic relationship with the tool becomes a means of discovering and reclaiming one’s own resilience.

In the secluded back room of Tawan Daeng, a lively karaoke bar, we witness Jemima Rose Dean’s performance. Her practice draws on experiences as a pole dancer in strip clubs as well as methods from contemporary dance and clowning. Through the combination of dance, text, and visual elements, she develops a surreal, comedic language to examine the lived experiences of female-coded bodies. In recent works, she negotiates the realities and shifts in identity across her different working contexts. Her day job as a concierge in a residential building appears to contrast with her night work at the strip club. Yet both jobs, along with her artistic practice and her background as a ballerina, rely on constant role-shifting. Each role gives rise to a unique identity, a new alias. In her Night Shifts performance, Lucky Daryl, the audience meets two of these personas. As they transform before our eyes, the performance becomes an exploration of the parallel shifts in power dynamics between performer and spectator.

The path to the third station of Night Shifts 3 leads via a narrow, winding wooden staircase into the two-story basement of the kiosk Mittenmang on Davidstraße. The walls display the collected works of collage artist and “Kiez original” Fiete Frahm, a permanent exhibition from the Erotic Art Museum. Woven between Frahm’s pieces are historical photographs by anonymous eyewitnesses: scenes from the Second World War, when St. Pauli’s cellars offered refuge as air-raid shelters. In this obscure setting, artists Jil Lahr and Janis von Rohden present their walk-in installation Secret Kitten Bar. Guests are invited to consume high-proof drinks and enter the nocturnal animal state. Meow and ciao!

Plain English

The project Night Shifts
The event is the third part of an art project in Hamburg. The project has eight parts that take place between February and December 2026. It happens in different public places. The theme of the project is darkness. The English title is Night Shifts. This means people work at night, for example in a hospital. Some artists also work at night. Shift also means change. We’re also interested in the changes that happen in people and the environment when night falls. The atmosphere shifts, and people move differently. In this project, artists show what happens at night and what interests them about it. It is about work, feelings, and secrets in the dark.

Night Shifts 3 on St. Pauli
When it gets dark, the neon lights in St. Pauli turn on. Visitors of Night Shifts 3 are invited to explore the night together. In St. Pauli, people turn night into day. They go to bars, clubs, and other venues that are often only open at night. Some of these places are also hidden, and not everyone can enter. Night Shifts 3 is all about this unique world. At three different locations, you’ll find art by artists Jemima Rose Dean, Simone Karl, Jil Lahr, and Janis von Rohden. Their works show the different sides of the neighborhood. They tell stories about excess, sexuality, power, sensuality, and intoxication.

Exhibition at Sexy Angel
In the sex cinema Sexy Angel the artist Simone Karl shows her work. This place is usually for men. Simone Karl tells a story from her own family there. In the past, it was very hard to get a divorce. This was hard for many people who were unhappy in their marriages. In protest, Simone Karl’s great-aunt simply sawed her marriage bed in two. Because of this, saws are important in Simone Karl’s new works. Her saw objects and videos look beautiful but also dangerous. They remind us of the bed being cut. For the artist, this work is about resisting something. Her works are often made of sharp metal parts, such as hooks or arrows. They show how vulnerable bodies are and how close attraction and danger can be.

Dance performance at Karaoke Bar
A dance performance by the dancer Jemima Rose Dean is taking place in the backroom of the Karaoke bar Tawan Daeng. That’s a bar where people can sing. In Jemima’s work, she explores what it’s like to live in a female body and the different roles we take on in life. Her dance performance for Night Shifts is connected to her two jobs: During the day, she works as a receptionist in an apartment building. At night, she works in a strip club. For Jemima Rose Dean, these are very different roles she takes on. Each role is like a new identity. Jemima calls the roles Daryl and Lucky. In the dance performance, visitors encounter these two roles.

Cat Bar at Kiosk Mittenmang
Jil Lahr and Janis von Rohden create a bar in the basement of the small late-night shop Kiosk Mittenmang. They build a walk-in installation: a secret cat bar. Cats are active at night, and this inspired the artists. Guests can drink alcoholic drinks there.

The Night Watchwomen
Three people guide the audience. They are dressed as night watchwomen. They show visitors the way to the three locations and the artworks.