Höhlenmalerei (cave painting) is an archival project documenting the graffiti found throughout the building. It began as an observation: the building is covered in drawings accumulated over years by its occupants. Graffiti belongs to an underground culture : made in urgency, for a specific place and moment.

Walter Benjamin spoke of the aura of a work: its unique presence in time and space, lost the moment it is reproduced. Photographing and vectorizing these drawings is precisely that gesture, extracting them from their context in order to preserve their trace.

As Berlin faces rapid gentrification and alternative spaces disappear, this archive documents the traces of a culture that might otherwise be erased.

If you have information about a graffiti ( its author, its context, its story) or if you would like to contribute to this archive in any way, contact us.