“Es geschah im November” (It Happened in November) by Kani Alavi
East Side Gallery
Mühlenstraße, Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg
Berlin, September 2011
“Nowadays about 800.000 visitors each year come by the East Side Gallery to take a look at the paintings. Kani’s ‘Es geschah im November,’ translated as ‘it happened in November,’ is one of the paintings. His painting shows a wave of people breaking through the Wall. The faces on the painting are not just happy faces – he also drew sad and scared faces. ‘People in the East had gone through a lot and were headed to many uncertainties.’ He is proud of all the work he has done, and still does, for the East Side Gallery: ‘It has really become my life. It belongs to my history, my personal history. It is my child.’” (A Wall to Remember, Faces of Berlin)
See also: Berlin Wall - Test the Rest - Bruderkuß - Stay Free - Without Title - Sonic Malade - Vergesst mir die Liebe nicht - Niemandsland - Many Small People - Curriculum Vitae
When I first looked at this I thought of Auschwitz and breaking through the fences there.
ReplyDeleteBut the Berlin Wall makes sense...and I agree with the description. Freedom can be frightening, especially if you haven't experienced it for a long time.