Open-air Gallery “North Side Gallery”, Berlin

Text by Jurij Paderin (Graffiti Lobby Berlin), Andrea Stöckmann

The North Side Gallery is not a Hall of Fame, but an open-air gallery. Painting without supervision of the Graffiti Lobby Berlin is prohibited and risks de-legalisation of the wall surfaces.

Artists who are interested in painting actions can contact Emilythestrange202.

For a long time, there have only been 3 legal wall areas in the city of Berlin where graffiti and street artists can legally paint (Parkaue, Rosenthaler Weg, Mauerpark). These are so highly frequented that a mural can only remain there for a few hours. If an artist wants to create a high-quality painting, he needs about 60€ for his material. In addition, he lovingly makes a sketch and works all day on his wall. The new wall then only exists for his own photo, for one day at most, because other artists are already waiting and also want to paint a wall. This frustrates the artists a lot.

However, artists, often commissioned painters for house facades or street art and graffiti artists from different milieus and fields of work, need a training field where they can practice their techniques and try out new creative things so that they can optimise their qualitative work. The lack of these legal wall spaces drives these artists into illegality and thus prosecution. They are thus socially stigmatised and denounced.

This creates a negative opinion about artists to whom the city does not want to provide legal space.

Northsidegallery (NSG) is about a changing curated design of the outdoor spaces. We want to give artists the opportunity to legally design walls in different formats and styles. In this way, art can be made tangible and experienced by the public. This will lead to a dialogue between residents and artists as well as networking, creativity and a positive attitude towards life (mental hygiene).

On the other hand, painting in public space also represents a social commitment for the citizens of Berlin, who enjoy the murals. In this way, the area is newly shaped and upgraded. This can already be observed very well on the temporarily legalised wall in the park at Nordbahnhof, the NSG.

Whether oldschool, newschool, graffiti, street art, illustration, calligraffiti or comic style, the NSG stands for artistic diversity and mutual appreciation. It is an expression of diversity as enrichment for all. There have been 10 curated and accompanied painting events in the park so far. This has made it possible to realise a diverse and clean work in the entire park at Nordbahnhof.

Duration of the project

The activity focuses primarily on the curated design of the wall spaces provided in the park at the Nordbahnhof. wall surfaces in the park at Nordbahnhof. The artist network consists of national and international street art and graffiti artists. More locations will follow.

graffiti-lobby-berlin.de Documentation can be followed at: instagram.com/emilythestrange202/