Melilla Mauerspringer / Melilla Wall Jumper

This bronze wall jumper is part of the project Fünf Tore/fünf Orte. The project was initiated by Jan Hoet, then director of MARTa Herford , to raise awareness of Herford’s five historic city gates through contemporary art. Artists from five continents were invited to create a work for each of the different locations.

The title of this sculpture refers to a political situation in the past as well as in the present. Prior to the German reunification, there were people who climbed the Berlin Wall to get from West to East Berlin for various reasons, illegally crossing the border in the opposite direction of most people. These people were referred to as Mauerspinger, or wall jumpers. Melilla, on the other hand, is a Spanish exclave on the North African coast. Every day, people there climb meter-high wire fences, escaping hunger, poverty, and war in their homeland in an attempt to reach a supposed “European paradise.” This bronze wall jumper, an African man, is located near the top of an approximately 10-meter-high mast. Holding on to the pole, he sits atop a video surveillance camera that transmits images of urban life in Herford. With his feet crossed and his gaze drifting off into the distance, his relaxed posture contrasts the dangerous situation in which he finds himself. As such, the figure not only represents historical parallels, but also the human endeavor to cross borders and conquer new horizons, even in seemingly hopeless situations.

The sculpture was a gift to the city of Herford from a private sponsor and was realized in collaboration with the Museum Marta Herford.