A repurposed coal-fired power plant might not be the first place you’d expect to find contemporary art. And yet, hundreds of artists, visitors, and collectors will soon head to Kraftwerk Bille in Hamburg, Germany, for the third edition of the Hamburg Artists Art Market (HAAM).
HAAM runs:
Thursday, 18 September, 6 – 12 p.m. (Opening party)
Friday, 19 September, 2 p.m. – 10 p.m.
Saturday & Sunday, 20, 21 September, 11 a.m to 7 p.m.
Launched in 2023 as the sister fair to Berlin Artists Art Market (BAAM), HAAM is part of a growing movement of intentionally collaborative art markets in Germany. Its mission is simple: Support budding artists and make art accessible to everyone. At this 2025 edition of HAAM, prices for the artworks exhibited will range from 50 euros to 7,500 euros, inviting casual visitors to buy their first piece just as much as serious collectors.
Sofia Nordmann, co-director of HAAM, who founded BAAM with architect José Contreras Aguad in Berlin in 2021, told me that as an artist herself, she found traditional art markets lacking in collaboration. “Artists don’t help each other very much – rather the opposite,” Nordmann said. “That shouldn’t really be the case. That’s why this whole market is very collaborative. The artists are able to learn how to organise exhibitions themselves and not be so dependent and learn how to sell art better.”
Tapping into a new generation of art collectors
On its website, HAAM makes this clear distinction: “The collaborative vision of BAAM gives rise to a unique art fair that stands in contrast to the existing traditional art market. It is the lived utopia of a new solidarity-based art market for everyone.”
In the spirit of this idea of an art market for everyone, I attended the 2024 edition of HAAM. I remember being ushered into the weekend in the typical Hamburg way, soaking wet with rain and looking forward to a dry place to spend my Friday evening.
The Kraftwerk Bille factory was large; I doubted I’d manage to get warm in there. But after paying my donation and stepping into the exhibition room, I forgot about the weather.
I was caught off guard by the sheer amount of art.
Every wall was alive with sculptures, abstract works, fine prints and photographs of all sizes. There was no room to feel like an insider or imposter. Every visitor was engrossed, either by the art in front of them or by conversations with friends and family. I remember circling the large space at least three times to make sure I’d inspected every piece. I was dry by the time I’d finished my third loop.
The 2024 edition attracted more than 4,000 visitors, with more than 400 artworks sold.
Nordmann hopes that the event will not only mean artists have greater access to buyers, but that young people who are new to the art scene will be encouraged to make a purchase: “I want young people to come and buy art; to simply enjoy art. It’s something you can grow into, building up a collection in art, living with art … It’s nice to live with art, to experience it for the first time, so that you somehow learn that it’s so beautiful.”
And there’s good news for those living in the west: The collaborative art market looks set to expand further to Cologne in the near future, branded as CAAM. There’s something refreshing about accessing art like this — in different forms, from different artists, in different price ranges. It’s more about participation than prestige — and this is how I intend to keep enjoying art.
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Sara Vordermeier
Sara Vordermeier is a Hamburg-based freelance writer and editor specialising in sports, technology and culture stories from her life abroad. Her professional writing experience spans more than seven years in the fields of content marketing, organic search trends and journalism.
