Sapana Satyal '24 | The Berlin Street Art Movement
https://berlinstreetart.com/street-art-history-berlin-wall-graffiti/
The Berlin street art scene began with the Berlin Wall, which separated East and West Berlin from 1961 to 1989. West Berliners used the wall as a place to express their opinions on the current state of Germany and the world. Graffiti was initially used on the wall as both an expression of creativity and protest. The idea of painting the wall originated from the American Sector, which was heavily populated by draft resistors, anarchists, and migrants. It accentuated the symbolism of the Berlin Wall in the Cold War; the western side covered in street art, the east side a monotonous gray, guarded by barbed wire and guns. After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, things changed and the art scene grew rapidly in Berlin; the city had a complete artistic revolution and became a hub for people to express themselves. The street art scene thrived in this environment and was heavily inspired by the expression of new-found freedom. In 1990 artists from all over the world came together to paint the wall’s barren east side as a celebration of hope for the future of post-reunification Germany. Today the East Side Gallery still stands as the largest remaining section of the Berlin Wall.
A well-known example of a piece of graffiti in the East Side Gallery is “Brother Kiss” (originally named “My God Help Me To Survive This Deadly Love”), a painting by artist Dmitry Vrubel made in 1990. It is based on a photo of two men, Leonid Breshnev (former General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union) and Erich Honecker (former Chairman of the State Council of East Germany), kissing on the 30th anniversary of the GDR (German Democratic Republic / East Germany) in 1979. “The artist expressed his fear towards the communist regime. Although heavily criticized, the painting has become a landmark by leaving a permanent historical stamp on culture” (2016). Originating from graffiti on a Cold War hotspot, Berlin has seen its popularist graffiti art scene flourish since. To this day Berlin is a hub for the arts, including hip hop and techno music, street art, and more, but looking to the future, graffiti artists in Berlin, otherwise known as “writers,” may start facing harsher penalties for vandalism.
“In the past, in West Berlin, graffiti used to be admired, at least the work that appeared on the western side of the Berlin Wall. Then, the graffiti represented the freedom of expression those in the west enjoyed. Not anymore.” -Frank Lämmer
DW: “Brother Kiss”
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