© kitev
client: kitev
Light Installation
completion: 2019
keywords: art, light installation, rooftop, highrise Oberhausen
Vielfalt ist unsere Heimat
On 21.12.2018 the last piece of coal from a German mine was mined. This also marks the end of a centuries-old history in the Ruhr area. A story that has influenced many generations and thus the development of our society. Mining attracted many new people to the Ruhr area, including Oberhausen. A variety of cultures gathered within a few years, making the city what it is today: a home of diversity. To address this idea in public, it can now be found on the roof of the highrise building near the central station.
"Diversity is our home" radiates in big letters down from the roof into the city. On the other side of the building, the word "Glück Auf" welcomes train passengers from Cologne, Düsseldorf and Duisburg. The house owner Vonovia took over the costs for the production of the neon writing and thus supported the project.
On the 14th of December, the time had come and the letters were fixed at the designated place. In glorious sunshine and minus degrees, a huge crane lifted the elements into the air. By nightfall, the exciting moment of enlightenment had come.
The press reported a short time later and triggered a heated debate on whether the statement was justified on this building or not. Of course, a critical discussion is always desirable as long as the statements remain on a factual level. A discussion of the terms home and diversity can only benefit the discourse. What does diversity mean in our everyday lives? Does the term only describe many different cultures or does it stand for more than that? For example, different worldviews, religions, genders, people with and without disabilities, jazz or pop music. And what does all this have to do with our homeland? The statement shines bright. It is an offer to the people of Oberhausen to discuss those questions for themselves and for the society as a whole. We already had our experiences in addressing prejudices and the changes in public discourse. At that time we were able to create a new perspective on refugees who had arrived as new citizens in the city by repairing the neon sign with the sonorous slogan "Oberhausen Wiege der Ruhrindustrie" on the building opposite the main station of Oberhausen.
Anyone who had previously doubted it, definitely knew since this action, in which young refugees repaired together with Kitev the missing E in the lettering and re-installed it, that participation in the urban society is not bound to concepts such as origin or nationality. Even then, there was a lively exchange with the public through media coverage.
The more we dealt with the skyscraper and its inhabitants, the more obvious it became: here, too, a lasting statement is needed to help shape the public discourse. The various actions, projects and events that we had created in the last few years together with artists, students, cultural workers and the inhabitants of the upper house, were apparently not sufficient for a new perspective of the public. A radiant symbol was needed to celebrate the building, the diversity of the residents and the region alike, and also to contribute to the current social discourse.
Together with our partner Vonovia, the owner of the building, this project was realized. Our message has been shining into the Ruhr area for two months now and the debate is far from over!
© kitev