Large pink plush cat-shaped sofa installation with oversized tail and ears on display at the CATS exhibition Hamburg. — Meet the superstar: the oversized pink cat sofa with plush tail and ears - a lounge installation that became the unofficial throne of the CATS exhibition Hamburg.

Two Weeks Later and Still Obsessed – My Return to the CATS Exhibition Hamburg (in Spirit, Anyway)

It’s been two weeks since I visited the CATS exhibition Hamburg at MARKK - and I’m still replaying every detail. From goddess Bastet to interactive memes, this year-long feline journey keeps haunting my creative brain. Here’s what stayed with me long after the opening night.

The CATS exhibition Hamburg at MARKK explores 10,000 years of feline presence in art, mythology, religion, and modern pop culture. From ancient Bastet worship to interactive meme stations, the exhibition blends serious scholarship with playful participation — and two weeks after visiting, it’s still living rent-free in my mind.

Quick Summary:
The CATS exhibition Hamburg at MARKK may have opened on Dec 5, 2025, but two weeks later it’s still living rent-free in my imagination. From ancient Bastet worship to modern meme culture, this immersive show blends humor, history, art, and interactivity in a way only cats could inspire.

Table of Contents

Two Weeks After Hamburg: My Heart Still Lives Inside the CATS Exhibition at MARKK

I can’t believe it’s already been two weeks since I stepped into Hamburg’s Museum am Rothenbaum (MARKK) for the CATS! exhibition press conference and grand opening. Honestly? I’m still buzzing. My suitcase is finally unpacked, my voice is normal again, the tea-and-honey phase is over – and yet my mind is still roaming those feline halls.

If you’ve been following my previous pieces (and if you haven’t, where have you been?), you already know this was no ordinary trip. First came the shock of being invited to the CATS exhibition Hamburg in the first place – the squeaky “Woohoo!” moment,the last-minute scramble to arrange cat-sitting, and the hunt for a Pawshake hero brave enough to care for Tito, Pierre, and Myratz.

Then came my interview with the exhibition’s curators Johanna Wild and Lotte Warnsholdt – a conversation that reshaped the way I view ancient cats, modern cats, mythical cats, and honestly, Tito too. And finally, the press conference itself: first impressions, first footage, first goosebumps.

This new article? This one is the afterglow.

It’s the story of what stayed with me once the lights dimmed, once I flew home, once Tito sniffed my suitcase suspiciously like I’d cheated on him with 5,000 years of feline culture. (I had.)

Visitor standing beside a large illustrated cat mural covered in artistic cat drawings at the CATS exhibition Hamburg. — An illustrated cat mural at the CATS exhibition Hamburg – visitors could stop, stare, sketch and add their own feline energy.

Favorite Moments from the CATS Exhibition Hamburg

The first shock wasn’t the crowd or the cameras – it was the museum itself. MARKK is not a dusty relic hall. It’s a living world-cultures powerhouse, and the CATS exhibition Hamburg wears that identity like velvet.

From the moment I entered, I felt that balance only museums with real intention achieve: deep academic rigor on one side – and cultural joy on the other. The entire show is immersive, layered, funny, emotional, and full of silent elegance, like a cat deciding to ignore you because you’re not serving dinner yet.

Sections unfold like stories:

Egyptian cat mummies full of Bastet-energy
Japanese beckoning cat culture
Islands, mountains, deserts – each with their own feline spirits
Ancient artifacts that practically purr when you get close
Contemporary art that makes you grin like a kid scrolling memes

It’s rare that a museum treats cats seriously without taking itself too seriously. But CATS exhibition Hamburg nails it.

The Night of the Opening – A Purring Blur

Opening night was a human zoo – journalists, scholars, museum people and cat lovers everywhere. No wonder I didn’t notice my German limitations; the exhibition’s visual storytelling does most of the talking.

Johanna and Lotte radiated warmth during their introduction, speaking about mythology, global exchange, fear, worship, and modern reinvention. Even without catching every word, I felt every idea.

Cat people are a special breed – emotional, curious, and occasionally plotting to steal antiquities. No names.

Crowd sitting and reclining on a giant pink cat sofa while watching videos during the opening of the CATS exhibition Hamburg. — Opening-night audience taking over the pink cat sofa – phones out, eyes glued to the feline videos, everyone fully surrendered to cat culture.

Giant pink cat-shaped sofa at the CATS exhibition Hamburg with visitors lounging and watching projected cat videos. — Relaxing on the giant pink cat-sofa at the CATS exhibition Hamburg while visitors watch looping feline videos on the big screen – peak cultural comfort.

Favorite Moments That Still Follow Me

Some exhibitions evaporate. This one stuck.

1. A massive cat-shaped sofa-bed where you could sit, lounge, or fully stretch out while watching looping cat videos like some decadent feline aristocrat.
2. A wall dedicated to the ultimate “cat city” – Istanbul – where street cats rule the sidewalks, rooftops, and the collective public heart.
3. The mirrored Maneki-Neko space – a glittering hall of lucky cats, row after row of tiny raised paws multiplying into infinity.
4. Ancient objects beside modern installations – continuity across millennia.
5. And yes – the meme station.
Scanning a QR code and downloading your own cat meme directly to your phone is peak civilization. Tito approves.

Inara and the Age of Digital Feline Worship

And speaking of modern cat icons – Inara from OperaAir practically had her own celebrity presence in Hamburg. She wasn’t physically at MARKK (she prefers digital realms and algorithmic stardom), but her energy was everywhere: playful, curious, endlessly screenshot-able. While the museum explored cats across empires and mythologies, Inara reminded us that today’s feline power is fully online – she lives in browsers, goes on giveaway tours, and collects followers like temple offerings. A cat mascot going viral across Europe? That’s just the 2025 version of worship.

Why the CATS Exhibition Hamburg Works: Interactivity, Humor, Mythology

Here’s what surprised me most:
The CATS exhibition Hamburg lets you participate. That is rare in serious museum culture.

You can:

watch films
listen to legends
try interactive displays
dress yourself as a proper cat lady
rethink the feline in art

It’s equal parts scholarship and play.

Close-up of the interactive meme generator touchscreen where visitors create cat memes at the CATS exhibition Hamburg. — The meme generator – choose an image, type your punchline, scan a QR code, and take home your digital cat meme souvenir. Museums have evolved.

Meanwhile, Back Home…

My Pawshake sitter kept sending proof that the trio had not perished:

Myratz sleeping like a pastry
Pierre judging everyone
Tito doing cardio on the cat tree

I missed them, but Hamburg was worth the emotional betrayal.

The Big Realization

Cats are not decoration. They are cultural mirrors. They shape religion, luck, superstition, gender roles, theatrical iconography, agricultural symbolism, and modern humor.

Seeing 10,000 years of cats in one place made me appreciate Tito’s dramatic sprints and Pierre’s grooming rituals as something truly ancient. We all belong to the same lineage of feline worshippers.

And Yes – I Want to Go Back

I genuinely could visit the CATS exhibition Hamburg ten times. The show runs until November 29, 2026, and I plan to return – camera ready, meme muscle warmed up.

If you’re planning a Hamburg trip, go. Museums should make you feel something – wonder, joy, curiosity, nostalgia. This one gave me all of that and the urge to adopt a statue.

Today, as Tito stares at me because I moved his blanket two centimeters, I finally understand the exhibition’s thesis:

Cats don’t just follow culture. They lead it.

Silvia

Silvia is a cat rescuer with nearly two decades of hands-on experience and a former Vice President of the registered rescue organization SOS Cat. She has fostered dozens of cats and kittens, participated in rescue missions, organized charity fundraisers, and provided intensive neonatal care for vulnerable newborns.

Her writing is grounded in real-life experience - real cats, real challenges - and supported by careful research. When covering feline health or nutrition topics, she consults licensed veterinarians to ensure the information shared is responsible and evidence-based.

She currently lives with her three feline co-editors - Tito, Myratz, and Pierre - who enthusiastically “review” every recipe and cat-related insight published on Cats Magazine.