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.