Place: Halle-Neustadt, Germany
Date: 10/2024 & 06/2025
Material: Exterior paint
Collaboration: Hanna Müller-Kaempffer
Assistance: Norbert Diehl

The two murals pay homage to Heinz Möhrdel’s 1984 artwork on a housing block in Halle-Neustadt, now left to decay. For many residents, the original image is tied to positive memories. The motif of the swans was determined by the local administration at the time of construction: large flocks regularly flew from the nearby river Saale across the wetlands surrounding the new apartment buildings.

Drawing on this historic reference, the new murals use 10,000 painted squares and one-centimeter joints to recall both the aesthetics of DDR architectural art and the intricate patterns of mosaic tiles. Created for the 60th anniversary of the district, they preserve the memory of the original while giving it a renewed presence in today’s urban space.