HANSAINVEST on the MS Bleichen: painted at the pier, celebrated on board

For HANSAINVEST, we ran a team event on the MS Bleichen, an old museum ship in Hamburg's historic harbour on the Elbe. The event itself took place on board, while painting happened on the pier in front of it, under the ship's old loading doors.

The brief

A museum ship is a venue that can do a lot, but not one thing: it has no wall you're allowed to spray. That's exactly where a graffiti format usually fails before it even starts.

The second hurdle is space. On board a ship, a group is inevitably packed in tight, and tight is the opposite of what people need when they're working with paint and trying not to hit each other. Both had to be solved before a single can was even unpacked, and both are a question of setup, not programme. Anyone who only realises this on event day no longer has a format, they have a site visit.

How it went

We took the setup off the ship and put it on the pier: a graffiti wall and, next to it, an Action Painting setup, both directly under the old loading doors of the MS Bleichen. The event itself took place on board.

That way, the venue gets its backdrop back without anyone working on the historic monument itself. The old loading doors give the setup a frame no trade-fair wall could provide, and the historic harbour sits in the background, right where it belongs. Work happened in small groups, each on its own piece, so nobody waited for a station and nobody just watched. The graffiti wall and the Action Painting setup stood side by side, so each group could pick the technique that suited them.

The result

By the end, the different pieces were presented. Not one shared piece, but several, each from a small group.

For you as the planner, this closing moment is the underrated part. When groups work separately, otherwise nobody sees what the others made, and the date splits into several individual experiences. A short presentation round at the end pulls it back together: each group explains its piece, everyone sees everything, and the conversation afterwards has something to talk about. The old harbour in the background provides the backdrop that runs through every photo.

Frequently asked questions about this project

Can you run a team event on a ship?

Yes, if the painting happens on land. For HANSAINVEST, the event ran on board the MS Bleichen in Hamburg's historic harbour, while painting happened on the pier in front of it, at a graffiti wall and an Action Painting setup under the old loading doors.

That split is the whole trick. On board it's tight, and a ship offers no surface anyone would be allowed to spray. The pier in front of it offers both: room to spread out and a wall brought along for the day, which disappears again afterwards. Our graffiti workshop on a wall always happens outdoors anyway, so the format fits the venue instead of fighting it. If you're eyeing a special venue, this is the key question to ask the provider: do they bring the surface, or do they expect one? For a heritage site, a museum ship, or a historic building, the answer is almost always that they have to bring it.

What special venues are there in Hamburg for team events?

Two categories we've both worked with, and they solve different problems. For HANSAINVEST it was an old museum ship in the historic harbour with a pier in front. In HafenCity it was a large indoor space in a cruise terminal.

The difference isn't taste, it's planning. A ship with a pier gives you a backdrop and an outdoor surface, but little indoor space. A terminal gives you an empty indoor surface for large groups, but no heritage character. If your date needs to be outdoors and the pieces should look impressive, the ship option is strong. If you need indoor space or the group is large, the terminal option is the more reliable choice. Either way, we bring the working surface, so the venue only has to provide the space.

How do you make sure everyone sees what the others made at the end?

With a presentation round at the close: at HANSAINVEST, small groups worked on their own pieces, and at the end the different pieces were presented instead of simply being collected and packed away.

That's the step almost every schedule forgets. Small groups are the right answer for any size, because work happens in parallel and nobody stands in line. The cost is that each group only knows its own result. Ten minutes of presenting at the close brings that back: each group explains its piece, and suddenly people are talking about decisions instead of colours. For graffiti we plan groups from 10 to 1,000 people, and the larger the group, the more this closing moment matters.