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Symbols of failure: the deeper issue that connects border walls Symbols of failure: the deeper issue that connects border walls
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From Korea to Cyprus to Berlin to Israel, Kai Wiedenhöfer has spent decades photographing all the major border walls – and learned how despite what their defenders say, each is far from uniqueFrom Korea to Cyprus to Berlin to Israel, Kai Wiedenhöfer has spent decades photographing all the major border walls – and learned how despite what their defenders say, each is far from unique
On October 1989, as the first television images of the fall of the Berlin Wall began to be broadcast, Kai Wiedenhöfer, a 23-year-old student photographer, was attending a symposium in Dortmund with the well-known American photojournalist Leonard Freed.On October 1989, as the first television images of the fall of the Berlin Wall began to be broadcast, Kai Wiedenhöfer, a 23-year-old student photographer, was attending a symposium in Dortmund with the well-known American photojournalist Leonard Freed.
Prompted by Freed, Wiedenhöfer decided to skip his classes and head east that night. Reaching the Herleshausen checkpoint, he was greeted by a 10km queue of traffic heading west.Prompted by Freed, Wiedenhöfer decided to skip his classes and head east that night. Reaching the Herleshausen checkpoint, he was greeted by a 10km queue of traffic heading west.
By 6am the following morning he was taking pictures on Berlin’s Potsdamer Platz. “Once we crossed the Herleshausen checkpoint we realised everyone was treating it like a party,” he says. “Everyone was celebrating.”By 6am the following morning he was taking pictures on Berlin’s Potsdamer Platz. “Once we crossed the Herleshausen checkpoint we realised everyone was treating it like a party,” he says. “Everyone was celebrating.”
Two of the pictures Wiedenhöfer took that morning in Berlin are currently on view in Belfast, blown up to three metres by 4.5 metres and displayed on one of the “peace walls” or “peace lines” built to divide Catholics and Protestants. These pasted images are part of Wall on Wall, his long-term project to dramatise the barriers and fences that divide people across the globe.Two of the pictures Wiedenhöfer took that morning in Berlin are currently on view in Belfast, blown up to three metres by 4.5 metres and displayed on one of the “peace walls” or “peace lines” built to divide Catholics and Protestants. These pasted images are part of Wall on Wall, his long-term project to dramatise the barriers and fences that divide people across the globe.
Other symbols of physical division he has visited include the US-Mexican border, Cyprus, the demilitarised zone between the two Koreas and the concrete barriers that separate Sunni and Shia neighbourhoods in Baghdad.Other symbols of physical division he has visited include the US-Mexican border, Cyprus, the demilitarised zone between the two Koreas and the concrete barriers that separate Sunni and Shia neighbourhoods in Baghdad.
His travels have solidified his view that such walls and fences are profound symbols of failure.His travels have solidified his view that such walls and fences are profound symbols of failure.
“For me,” he says, “the significance of what happened in 1989 was this feeling: ‘Now we have a free world. There’s no more fucking borders!’ Everyone was convinced at the time. You remember [Francis Fukuyama’s] End of History?” He laughs at the memory, then adds: “Then I witnessed what happened in the occupied Palestinian territories.“For me,” he says, “the significance of what happened in 1989 was this feeling: ‘Now we have a free world. There’s no more fucking borders!’ Everyone was convinced at the time. You remember [Francis Fukuyama’s] End of History?” He laughs at the memory, then adds: “Then I witnessed what happened in the occupied Palestinian territories.
“The fall of the [Berlin] Wall was a super-strong symbol. It was one of those rare times where everything crystalises around a single point. It wasn’t about reunification of Germany but the end of a certain world order.“The fall of the [Berlin] Wall was a super-strong symbol. It was one of those rare times where everything crystalises around a single point. It wasn’t about reunification of Germany but the end of a certain world order.
“The point of the Berlin Wall was that it symbolised this huge problem, which was the lack of communication between the two sides. It was like the wall of silence in a bad relationship. If you don’t talk to your counterpart, you build a wall and the problem just gets worse.”“The point of the Berlin Wall was that it symbolised this huge problem, which was the lack of communication between the two sides. It was like the wall of silence in a bad relationship. If you don’t talk to your counterpart, you build a wall and the problem just gets worse.”
These feelings were rekindled for him when, in the midst of the Second Intifada in 2003, he began documenting the construction by Israel of a vast barrier separating Israelis and Palestinians that sliced through urban areas and countryside alike, including the outskirts of Jerusalem.These feelings were rekindled for him when, in the midst of the Second Intifada in 2003, he began documenting the construction by Israel of a vast barrier separating Israelis and Palestinians that sliced through urban areas and countryside alike, including the outskirts of Jerusalem.
He says he realised at once that what he was seeing was the beginning of the same process he had seen with the fall of the Berlin Wall, a shuttering of the possibility of coexistence between Israelis and Palestinians.He says he realised at once that what he was seeing was the beginning of the same process he had seen with the fall of the Berlin Wall, a shuttering of the possibility of coexistence between Israelis and Palestinians.
The combination of the two moments – the fall of one dividing wall and the construction of another – led Wiedenhöfer to Wall on Wall, which saw him display large images of the Israeli separation wall on the remnants of the Berlin Wall at the outdoor East Side Gallery. The exhibition in Belfast, featuring three dozen large images of barriers he has photographed around the world, repeats the exercise.The combination of the two moments – the fall of one dividing wall and the construction of another – led Wiedenhöfer to Wall on Wall, which saw him display large images of the Israeli separation wall on the remnants of the Berlin Wall at the outdoor East Side Gallery. The exhibition in Belfast, featuring three dozen large images of barriers he has photographed around the world, repeats the exercise.
The Berlin exhibition was not without controversy. Critics suggested that the juxtaposition of the Berlin Wall and Israel’s separation barrier amounted to antisemitic photography, and it also prompted anxiety among Berlin’s conservative local politicians.The Berlin exhibition was not without controversy. Critics suggested that the juxtaposition of the Berlin Wall and Israel’s separation barrier amounted to antisemitic photography, and it also prompted anxiety among Berlin’s conservative local politicians.
The Belfast exhibit has run into different problems. It was initially funded by the German foreign ministry, but the German government pulled out over the political optics of Brexit, forcing a two-week call to meet the shortfall met in part by a £10,000 donation from Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters.The Belfast exhibit has run into different problems. It was initially funded by the German foreign ministry, but the German government pulled out over the political optics of Brexit, forcing a two-week call to meet the shortfall met in part by a £10,000 donation from Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters.
“One of the things that links all the walls and barriers is the insistence by those who build them that each wall is unique and that you cannot compare the different walls,” Wiedenhöfer says. “One of the criticisms from some people of the original Berlin exhibition was that if you put up pictures of the separation wall on the remnants of the Berlin Wall you were making that comparison.“One of the things that links all the walls and barriers is the insistence by those who build them that each wall is unique and that you cannot compare the different walls,” Wiedenhöfer says. “One of the criticisms from some people of the original Berlin exhibition was that if you put up pictures of the separation wall on the remnants of the Berlin Wall you were making that comparison.
“But the point I am trying to make is different. It’s that what connects all these walls is a problem you cannot solve through negotiation, so you build a wall and make the problem worse. It is a statement that is inherent in the building of all these walls – whether it is for economic reasons, to separate Catholic and Protestant, Sunni and Shias – it marks the problem as insoluble.”“But the point I am trying to make is different. It’s that what connects all these walls is a problem you cannot solve through negotiation, so you build a wall and make the problem worse. It is a statement that is inherent in the building of all these walls – whether it is for economic reasons, to separate Catholic and Protestant, Sunni and Shias – it marks the problem as insoluble.”
For the last 15 years Wiedenhöfer has lived in Berlin, in what was once the GDR on the east side of the city. He still goes out to take pictures on anniversaries of the wall’s fall, but feels the city itself has become less remarkable among European cities as the decades have passed and Berlin has gentrified.For the last 15 years Wiedenhöfer has lived in Berlin, in what was once the GDR on the east side of the city. He still goes out to take pictures on anniversaries of the wall’s fall, but feels the city itself has become less remarkable among European cities as the decades have passed and Berlin has gentrified.
“It is becoming just another place, like Paris or London,” he says.“It is becoming just another place, like Paris or London,” he says.
Ironically, perhaps, the normalisation of Berlin over the years underscores his point: that in the end the destruction of barriers that divide is more significant than their construction.Ironically, perhaps, the normalisation of Berlin over the years underscores his point: that in the end the destruction of barriers that divide is more significant than their construction.
Kai Wiedenhöfer’s Wall on Wall project is on display in Belfast until 15 November
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