Each weekend during the entire course of Culture|Nature, an investigative tour, overland or by water, was started at the Archive of the Arts. The goal of these trips was not discovering Wilhelmsburg as a touristic destination, but to learn to mentally penetrate and understand the complex situation of the place.

The “Excursions of Reflection” were supposed to topically connect the center of the exhibition in Wilhelmsburg with other places in Hamburg. Spheres of conflict, discussion contexts, and initiatives were visited in their particular locality in order to deal with social problems in the course of urban development processes.

Excursions were made to such burning problems as the port, energy, nature, gardening culture, or urban construction with the goal to reflect on their local as well as global relevance. Depending on the length and the route of the particular trip, either buses were hired, port barges orbicycles were used, or the tour was made on foot as an enlightening walk. On route, local experts gave background information on details of interest. At the final destination of each excursion, an invited theoretician held a lecture on the particular topic. All contributions to these “Excursions of Reflection” are documented in the text volume of the publication “Culture | Nature: Art and Philosophy in the Context of Urban Development”, jovis publishers Berlin, 2009.

The “Excursions of Reflection” made it possible to connect and to supplement local knowledge with a more general philosophical reflection. In this way Culture|Nature placed theoretical reflection on a par with artistic work and it used it as a method of intervention. All three elementsÑlocal knowledge, philosophical reflection and art praxisÑbecame effective as cultural forces.