The current crises, the low willingness to donate and a paradoxically record-breaking art market made us turn homeless people into artists to help them profit from art. We chose to exhibit their art works in unorthodox places to take Hamburg’s citizens on a new journey that would confront them with the upsetting topic of homelessness in an alluring – and eye-opening – way. People could use our QR code to turn their smartphones into a guide offering clips, interviews, and articles. A multimedia campaign helped raise awareness through live streams, website, radio/cinema spots, SoMe and even geo-/contextually targeted DOOH.

Last year, 43 people died homeless on Hamburg’s streets. Even harder to swallow knowing that the city has the highest concentration of millionaires in Germany and its local government is committed to eliminating homelessness in Hamburg by 2030 under the motto #Nullbis2030 (#ZeroBy2030). Germany’s top street paper, Hinz&Kunzt, wanted to celebrate its 30th anniversary with a striking wake-up call for Hamburg’s citizens and politicians in particular. The aim was to draw more attention to the issue of homelessness. And to do something about the massive drop in donations. Once again, people experiencing homelessness suffer the most in times of crisis like these. Specifically, the aim was to increase the willingness to donate through the sale of the exhibition catalogues and merchandise. We also focused on potential donors and Hamburg institutions, which Hinz&Kunzt could later win over as partners and sponsors.

We all feel the consequences of the current crises – especially the poorest of the poor: the homeless. To combat the currently low willingness to donate, we turned to where the hard times are good times: to the flourishing art market.

Hinz&Kunzt sellers became Hinz&Kunzt artists. And their stories turned into real art. With the help of artificial intelligence, homeless people created intimate and moving art pieces out of their life stories. And these were exhibited at 13 locations under bridges, at subway stations and on the streets – resulting in an entirely new kind of gallery. A pop-up gallery that, like its homeless artists, lacks shelter and makes their world visible.

The Homeless Gallery - 30 years of Hinz&Kunzt.

30 life stories. 30 art pieces.

Every day, thousands walk past the homeless and simply don't see them. And with the current situation, many who saw them have stopped donating or buying the street paper. At the center of our strategy were the 13 unique exhibitions – a nomadic and shelter less gallery. These were meant to help Hamburg's citizens face homelessness in a different context and remind the city's politicians of their commitment. They also allowed visitors to buy merchandise or engage through QR codes that led them to the website, where they could donate and learn about Hinz&Kunzt, its projects, the art and the artists. To promote the exhibitions, we ran a large multimedia campaign, and DOOH provided real-time information about the venues. Finally, we recruited powerful partners such as Hamburg's two largest football clubs to increase the campaign's reach and Christie's to raise more funds by auctioning the work.

We interviewed 30 homeless people for hours. These stories became an instruction template we developed with curators and AI experts to feed the AIs DALL-E 2, Midjourney and Stable Diffusion. Once the systems created an image selection, we invited each homeless person back to further develop their artwork. Which we then used to turn all of Hamburg into a gallery like no other. The exhibitions became a new and unique way to have people face homelessness rather than look away. To promote them, we ran a massive SoMe campaign on Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn between January and March 2023. Hyper-localised DOOH drove people to the venues, where they had multiple opportunities for engagement and taking action. Live streams, radio/cinema spots, plus extensive media coverage also helped us reach more people. The works will be exhibited again at the Hamburger Kunsthalle in Fall when Christie's auctions them off.

The Homeless Gallery shows how the meaningful and compassionate use of AI alongside unusual collaborations can fight one of our society's greatest ills: homelessness. Over 100,000 people visited the 13 exhibition venues over three months. The special edition art catalogue became the best-selling publication in the history of Hinz&Kunzt and the increased awareness raised sales of their street paper by 32%. Their website's traffic rose by 75%, and all Homeless Gallery merchandise sold out within a few days. And the press was also enthusiastic: 315 national and international news outlets reported on the initiative, and our social media channels created 750,000 impressions. In total, the project generated an earned media reach of 87,3 million while bringing the Homeless Gallery and the topic of homelessness into the limelight. Continuing the success story, both of Hamburg's most famous football clubs invited The Homeless Gallery to their stadiums.

Rather than running a regular campaign, we decided to create a nomadic gallery as exposed to the elements as homeless people themselves. Faced with people's lack of interest and the all-time low willingness to donate, we set out to design a solution with stopping power. One that would help everyday citizens dare to see homelessness through a different lens. We crafted striking and touching exhibitions to connect people with a topic most would rather face away from. Our approach succeeded in shifting perceptions and raising sales and donations.

Hinz&Kunzt helps people living on the streets help themselves. What started as a cooperation of homeless people and journalists has become the largest street paper in Germany. They operate significant housing and employment projects to support homeless people in Hamburg. They are celebrating their 30th anniversary this year. Hamburg's Senate signed up to the EU's goal of eliminating homelessness by 2030, but there are no concrete plans to achieve this. Even though the city boasts the most millionaires in Germany – and the highest rate of people dying homeless on the streets as well. This is why Hinz&Kunzt wanted to celebrate by shaking things up.

The Hamburg Kunsthalle is one of Germany's most prestigious art museums. It houses seven centuries of European art, including Casper David Friedrich’s most famous painting "Wanderer over the Sea of Fog". The Christie’s auction will happen at the Werner-Otto Hall in Fall.