The East Side Gallery

In summer 1990, 118 artists from 21 countries designed the Berlin Wall in Berlin-Friedrichshain with their art. The open-air gallery has become world-famous as a symbol of the end of the Cold War and as a historical reminder of the inhumane border regime. The preservation of the monument was controversial for a long time: it was only in the 2000s that Berlin began to preserve the historical traces of the once divided city. By then, building permits had long since been granted for the Spree properties, while the artworks fell into disrepair. In five essays, the exhibition catalogue of the Berlin Wall Foundation describes the transformation of the monument and its surroundings and explaines the uses, appropriations and displacements.