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History through Art: The East Side Gallery

On my last Saturday, I took a trip to East Side Gallery to see all of the amazing wall art on pieces of the Berlin Wall. It was so nice to see pieces from artists all over the world, all with deeper meanings.

I have always loved murals because of the ways individuals are able to express themselves in a “non-traditional” way, and because the art can bring people and communities together in such a meaningful way. This gallery is so much more than pretty pictures and words painted on concrete. This gallery was created by over 100 artists from all over the world. Each painting is unique, and tells its own story.

The murals are painted on the East Side of the wall, a side that was once patrolled by armed guards to prevent those who lived there from escaping to the West. They were painted on that side to re-appropriate something that was once used to separate and oppress a group of people, into something beautiful, inspirational, and meaningful. While there is a lot of street art and graffiti around Berlin that is covered over and over again by more graffiti, this site is different. There is practically no tagging or graffiti covering these pieces as if there is an understood aspect of respect and preservation among those that go and see it.

This gallery isn’t something you would see in a traditional art museum with art that costs hundreds of thousands (to millions) of dollars—but to me, its even more valuable. This art tells a story; a story of separation and struggle, but also of future possibilities and new growth. And most of all, it is accessible to the public. Anyone can go and see this gallery for free, and can access it by taking public transportation.

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