Caitlin Mavromates takes a look at the city’s diverse range of public artworks…

Public art can be defined as any piece of art that has come into the public domain through public funding or Percent for Art policies, in a space accessible to the greater community.

Its form can range from a marble sculpture or mural to a contemporary installation or even a performance. While many might think of public art as static, it can be – and often is – an interactive process, as residents, artists, politicians, and workers all come together to form a piece that adds to the culture and history of their city.

When we look at such pieces, we sense a greater shared history, a collective memory that tells us something particular about that given place and time, whether deeply political, controversial or just attention-grabbing. Often, as is the case of Berlin, these definitions and functions become blurred.

Often public art is thought of as a top-down project, in which an artist is commissioned to do a piece for a government or organisation. And it’s certainly true that Berlin’s abundant memorials speak to the role that public art can play in telling the history of the city.

However, street art can do the same thing, and often for the future too. Despite being mostly unofficial (not to mention illegal), it is nonetheless central to how both locals and visitors perceive and understand the city, sometimes underlining Berlin’s contemporary role as a “creative capital”.

When these different forms of public art reside amongst one another, they creates a patchwork that can lend insights into the past, present and future…

Stands and Falls

“Steht und fällt” or ‘Stands and Falls’ is a work by acclaimed British sculptor Antony Gormley that dates back to 2001. The project is one of the hundreds of commissioned contemporary artworks that adorn German parliament buildings. Located in a flooded courtyard of the Jakob Kaiser Building, this sculpture of two rusting cast-iron figures are almost entirely hidden from view. They can be seen from a concrete jetty—the only way to cross the courtyard—as they overlook the artificial lake. This body of water literally reflects the five sculptures located on…