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 exposed to the elements, just as the artists often experience themselves.

The Homeless Gallery - 30 years of Hinz&Kunzt.

30 life stories. 30 art pieces.

Thousands walk past the homeless daily and don't see them. With the current situation, many who saw them stopped donating or buying the street paper. To help Hamburg's citizens face homelessness and remind the city's politicians of their commitment, we focused on 30 homeless people, their stories, and unique exhibitions. Video portraits, a photo series, a short documentary, and pop-up galleries combining beauty and grief into an unforgettable experience created such a buzz that people just couldn't look away. The exhibitions also allowed visitors to buy merchandise or engage through QR codes leading them to the website, where they could donate and learn about Hinz&Kunzt, the art and the artists. To promote the exhibitions, we ran an extensive multimedia campaign, including real-time information about the venues. We also recruited Hamburg's two largest football clubs to increase the campaign's reach and Christie's to raise more funds with an auction.

We sat with 30 homeless people to talk about their lives for hours. These stories became the template for the instructions we fed AI. Afterwards, we invited them back to work on their art pieces along with curators and our AI specialists. We used the resulting artworks to turn all of Hamburg into a gallery like no other. And 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, LinkedIn and Facebook 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 in the Hamburger Kunsthalle in Fall when the renowned auction house 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.