Two 12-ft (3.6m) slabs of the Berlin Wall which separated the west and east parts of the German city now have a new look.
The slabs in Rauora Park, Cashel St, have regularly had new murals on them since they were put in place in 2019.
The latest mural is to mark the 35th anniversary of the wall coming down on November 9, 1989.
Artist Trystan Cutts wanted to portray the old ways of communication, person-to-person, instead of using devices to communicate.
The Canadian-born artist incorporated the gap between the two giant slabs into his design as a split between buildings.
“I thought of just a bunch of (neighbours) communicating with each other, kind of like a New York style, everyone hanging out in the building yelling to each other. Everyone’s got their own little story,” he said.
The 155km-long Berlin Wall was constructed in 1961 and, over the years, the western side was often covered in politically-charged art.
In keeping with its history, Christchurch City Council charged the curator and custodian of the wall, Fiksate Studio & Gallery, to regularly commission street artists to refresh the space.
Gallery owner Jenna Ingram said they consulted with the local German community to approve the design of the mural.
“This idea popped in my head of people just talking to each other, playing with each other,” he said.
The two four-tonne sections, simply dubbed ‘Section 88’ and ‘Section 143’, were gifted to Christchurch in 2016 by the German construction firm tasked with dismantling the wall.
The thawing of the Cold War and civil unrest in Germany put pressure on the Soviet-allied East German government to loosen some of its regulations on travel to West Germany.
In 1989, the Berlin Wall was finally opened to citizens on both sides, after nearly three decades of keeping East and West Berliners apart.
However, the arrival of the wall remnants in Christchurch divided councillors at the time. They debated over where to install what some described as a “symbol of brutality”.
“People may have some strong opinions about it, but it is really nice that it is here in Christchurch.
“The fact that people would just be walking by and they won’t even know it’s the Berlin Wall. Most people don’t,” said Cutts.
While it wasn’t the biggest art piece he’s worked on, Cutts said it was easily the biggest in terms of meaning and value to him.
The 25-year-old artist plans to keep volunteering to paint murals on electrical boxes around Christchurch in the hope that it might lead to more work and inspire the next generation of artists.
“If I can inspire someone, that’s the best thing I can possibly do. Because I get inspired all the time.”
The Berlin Wall mural is due to be completed this week.
- By Geoff Sloan, made with the support of NZ On Air
