In 1992, Helke Bayrle began videotaping the installation of each exhibition at the Portikus exhibition space. These videos form a remarkable and intimate archive of the storied Frankfurt contemporary art institution and the artists who have worked within it. This publication pays tribute to Bayrle’s extraordinary work, through a comprehensive timeline, video stills, and statements by past and current directors and curators.

The publication brings together extensive material from Hamlet, mise-en-scène presented at Portikus, along with recently restored as well as never-published stills, drawings, and writings by American filmmaker and artist Jack Smith, related to his film Hamlet in the Rented World (A Fragment) (1970–73).