Wild horses at Brandenburg Gate

While arriving by accident at Brandenburg Gate this Friday morning, after a couple of good weeks of motivated absence, I noticed more crowds than usual, with many tourists and cameras focused on massive horses, overpassing more than once the live horses from the touristic carriages parked nearby. Curious, I made a tour of the open air exhibition, trying to figure out what it is all about, till I found a guide that gave me some clear details.

This short-lived photographic attraction was part of an exhibition that took place between 2-9 May, by the Mexican artist Gustavo Aceves, titled 'Lapidarium - To overcome borders'. The project is the result of the cooperation between gallery Jarmuschek+Partner, in cooperation with the Embassy of Mexico in Berlin and Kulturprojekte Berlin. The life-sized horse sculptures are located in opposite t the Quadriga of the Brandenburg Gate.

The exhibition was designed as a reflection about current affairs of Europe and Germany: migration, asylum-seeking and immigration. In the word of the artist himself: 'Lapidarium tries to be a silent witness. So voiceless like the silence of immigrants halfway'.

My first thought I had when I saw the exhibtion was about the Trojan horses, but the symbols seem to go much beyond the Greek mythology.

The horses, free creatures, go on their own restless journeys. The political message of the work is aimed to push and raise awareness for more responsibility to cope with the contemporary problems, especially in terms of new policies regarding immigration.

The reflection point is represented by the end of the war and the images of destroyed Berlin, that are displayed through high resolution pictures all over the city. The question can be what are the lessons learned of Europe after the terrible war years? As this is exclusively a travel blog, I will prefer to avoid to enter into too much discussions about this very sensitive topic.

The exhibition is part of the 'May 45 - Spring in Berlin', project conceived together with Kulturprojekte Berlin, Foundation Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, German-Russian Museum Berlin-Karlshorst, and Berliner Unterwelten e.V., the Society for exploration and documentation of subterranean architecture.

For one week, visitors from all over the world and locals had the opportunity to admire these works of art. I think that for most, it was just another touristic opportunity and I am not convinced that the serious and complex message of the work reached too far away.

However, there is part of the work of art to make the world a beautiful and meaningful place. At least for a short while, this exhibition accomplished part of its mission.

Art at the City Hall: Wilmersdorf Kommunale Gallerie

Compared to many big European cities, including Paris, Berlin is attracting more and more artists from all over the world. Besides the affordable cost of living, there is also something else that brings them here: the many chances offred to creative people to work, including by offering them cheap or even free workshop places and the many opportunities to sell and exhibit their work. An example of institutional interest for the arts is the fact that many borrough city halls do have interesting exhibition spaces presenting regular exhibitions and used as meeting points of the artists. This week, I visited the Kommunale Gallerie of Wilmersdorfer City Hall, close to Fehrbelliner Platz U-Bahn station. The entrance is free and there is a huge 1-storey exhibition place, hosting right now two exhibitions, workshops and a big room with various work of artists on sale or that can be loaned for a couple of days.

The exhibitions that I've seen here before feature usually Berlin artists, some of them living in the area, focused on contemporary arts and photography. Group exhibitions are also common, some of the artists being locally supported. 

The hall was quiet, with the three people employed by the gallery moving slowly near the reception desk, ready to welcome the visitors or to give explanations, if needed. Also at the entrance, there are plenty of leaflets introducing various local cultural events as well as other exhibitions at the other city hall galleries.  

The enormous space of the first floor is dedicated to feature the post-war Berlin artists and the recreation of the new art institutions. The exhibition, open till 24 of May, has interesting artistic insights, but also information about the artists and their personal histories and efforts to reconsider the artistic life. 

The visit at the Wilmersdorf Kommunale Gallerie was intense and taught me a lot about Berlin and its artists. it also made me curious to explore the other galleries hosted by the other city halls. As the spring seems to finally settle down in the city for a while, I can't wait to see more samples of cultural life in one of the hottest cultural cities of Europe right now.