Airports have a key role to play in championing a city’s or country’s craft, culture, tastes and traditions. For visitors they offer the first and last impression of the locality, for that city’s citizens they provide a source of civic pride. An arts & culture programme connects passengers to a place in the same way an airport connects them to the world. Many airport companies embrace that role with pride and passion. Our regular series, in association with Denizen Destination*, offers a regular showcase of airports as ‘artports’.
GERMANY. Düsseldorf Airport’s Art Walk exhibition, which features the works of renowned artists from the city and the Rhine-Ruhr region, has proven a hit with travellers and art critics.
According to the airport’s Media Manager Tankred Stachelhaus, Art Walk has been highly praised in the art press and on cultural pages of local media. Due to this success, it has been extended until 3 November. Highlighted artists include Anne Berlit, Gereon Krebber, Paul Schwer and Matthias Schamp.
Stachelhaus underlined Düsseldorf Airport’s aim to celebrate strong regional ties, adding that Art Walk allows passengers to “enter completely different spheres”.
“Düsseldorf and the Rhine-Ruhr region are among the world’s most important locations for contemporary fine arts, with distinguished museums, art associations, galleries, offside spaces and art academies,” Stachelhaus told The Moodie Davitt Report.
He said the installations by featured artists complement existing works of art in and around the airport. He pointed out that the artworks are not just decorative: “Anne Berlit, Gereon Krebber, Paul Schwer and Matthias Schamp have created strong positions that deal with travelling and do not leave out the darker aspects.”
Düsseldorf Airport’s website explains how the installations “appear like reflections on the topic of travel”. The featured artists “embraced the exciting challenge of working within the airport’s functional landscape and moving away from a traditional ‘white cube’ museum setting”.
It adds: “Through artistic freedom, they expose boundaries where the world opens up, give us avenues for understanding the current state of the world, guide us to seemingly impossible yet evident locations, and transform vacation into a dynamic energy field.”
Art Walk pieces feature at various locations throughout the airport – browse the gallery here. Further details on the Art Walk, including information on the featured artists, are available here.
In the airport’s Shopping Mall, Anne Berlit presents Reisende (Traveller), with the pillars representing individuals from various backgrounds in terms of socialisation, education and nationality. The installation was created with the help of inmates from Essen Prison.
In the same location, Paul Schwer introduces 229 POB (Persons on Board), depicting flying as a quest for a place of longing, while Matthias Shamp assumes the role of a storyteller. Gereon Krebber’s Derelikt sculptures are reminiscent of damaged buildings, their uniform grid structure jagged and partially destroyed.
Permanent artworks in and around Düsseldorf Airport include Max Kratz’s Pylon, moved from fairgrounds to the airport in 1994 and its landmark ever since.
Kratz created the piece in 1962 from V2A steel as a representation of optimism, new beginnings and modernity, a shiny 36m-high, 30-tonne ‘victory’ sign for the kind of progress that was achieved by the collaboration of technology and art. ✈
*DENIZEN Destination is a travel retail-focused enterprise arising out of the long-established, highly successful destination merchandise brand DENIZEN Bracelet. The brand produces collectible destination fine jewellery souvenirs tailored to individual locations that convey a strong sense of place.
