Staring at this building, who would guess Galerie 165 was once an abandoned bank? It stands here on Kurfürstendamm. The Die Dixons collective transformed it. Artists Kimo, Bolle, and Jörni are the masterminds. They activated their creative network to create this urban art space.
But there is a catch. Galerie 165 was temporary. It was set to be demolished to make way for an apartment building. But before that happened, the artists made their mark. 165 street artists filled the five-story building with site-specific works.
Imagine the energy. The artists worked almost nonstop. They began in mid-January and finished by March 9th. Their installations include geometric patterns made of tape. Video projections and interactive exhibits add to the experience. Sculptures complete the transformation.
The exhibit opened on April 1st. Guided tours ran almost all day. They were available Tuesdays through Sundays. The tours operated on a donation-based system. Visitors paid what they could. There was one important rule. No phones were allowed. The website urged visitors to look through their eyes, not their phone screens.
Feel the freshest urban art. That was the motto of Galerie 165. Over one hundred artworks waited to be experienced. Each piece was created by one of the 165 artists. They came from Berlin and all over the world. But everyone knew the fate of Galerie 165. It was created to be destroyed.
Community support fueled the project. Businesses donated nearly all the supplies. A four-star hotel provided free accommodation for the artists. Berliner Pilsner donated beer. The HAUS was not a marketing joke. Nothing was for sale. It was pure artistic expression.
Even with its impending demolition, Galerie 165 left a mark. It showed what could happen when artists unite. It demonstrated the power of community support. Galerie 165 was a fleeting moment of urban art. Yet, its memory lives on in photos and stories.