What a beautiful city filled with culture and history Berlin is. People often forget because of its very clear association with a horrifying war and a horrifying genocide. But Berlin is rebuilding.
There is a huge street art scene in Berlin, specifically in the Kreuzberg, a very hip and artsy neighborhood in the South of Berlin. Illegal and legal combined, street art sweeps the city. It is virtually not frowned upon by the police, but the thrill of getting caught and the threat of getting arrested, both are pretty real.
The picture up there, it’s been at the East Side Gallery, the open air gallery that once divided West and East Berlin, since 1990. And it is the most breathtaking thing – the entire gallery is. That one, it’s called Europas Fruhling, and it’s by Catrin Resch. It’s legal and beautiful.
This one up here, is illegal. But it represents three children in Argentina who don’t have a normal childhood. They are in gangs and it is supposed to juxtapose this playground in Berlin. The children in Berlin play in the playgrounds while children in many South American countries don’t have that advantage. They have to resort to gangs and violence. I don’t remember the artist’s name but I know he came to Berlin because here, he can express this injustice.
Other than Kreuzberg, Berlin’s very strong dedication to commemorating the horrific crimes of the Nazi party are evident all throughout the city. The most beautiful, and eerie at the same time, memorial I saw there was the Holocaust one. Gray stones that go on forever with different depths cover the lot of a gray ground. Its power is compelling. Here’s a picture:
Overall, Berlin was a beautiful city. The people, a little rude, but it didn’t bother me much. I am a New Yorker after all! Modern and growing, Berlin is becoming a cultural hub for music and art. It’s creating a new metropolitan, a place where potential can be found.
Here are some more pictures:
Another Kreuzberg painting representing the robotic and societally conformed humans we are becoming, and how this world is swallowing us up:
And this is just an autumn day 🙂
