The Street Art Walk through Dortmund’s harbour quarter will let you find your home in a very special manner now. The RADIUS urban art project has created ten pieces of art on façades, in gardens, and parks there, creatively tackling the concept of home. The street art “canvases” couldn’t be any more diverse, as they range from huge hall walls to a mere crack in the wall of an allotment garden.
I have walked the approximately 5.5-kilometre-long circular route through the north of Dortmund, discovering not only art, but also a bit of seaside nostalgia, original cafés along the fringes of the harbour, and exciting cultural locations that I would otherwise never have noticed. If you feel like doing on the walk in Dortmund yourself after this virtual tour, you can find a map with the route and all the locations on Google Maps
RADIUS is an idea conceived by Kulturort Depot, the Künstlerhaus Dortmund, the 44309//GALLERY, and DI POOL promotion.
Take a walk along the artworks!
1 | Building façade with messages to reflect on
Graffiti artist Marc Kemper’s motto is “Moving in space while minimising waste and maximising joy” – accordingly, the short messages on this wall encourage us to think about our relationship with the city, waste, nature, home, and living space. Where do we feel at home? Is it the city, nature, earth?
2 | HOME in capital letters by Markus Wiese
Dortmund artist Markus Wiese aka “Mason” mostly uses typography and geometry in his work – as he does for RADIUS. The letter designs are reminiscent of fiery sunsets above the Ruhr region. The artist started out with spray paint in the 1980s, inspired by street art in cities such as Amsterdam, London, and Paris.
3 | Braille art by Alexis Dworsky
The outer wall of the Rheinisch-Westfälische Realschule has some tangible street art, as art professor Alexis Dworsky, among other things travelling the world by Google Street View and giving lectures on it, has installed one of his pieces of Braille art at the Dortmund school for hearing-impaired pupils and children with communication problems.
4 | What does nature in the city mean to you?
The RADIUS artworks along the walk in Dortmund’s Nordstadt district are supplemented by street art messages left by other artists or unknown authors.
5 | A gable wall full of home by André Trafic
A container slowly lowering down onto an anchor – André Trafic’s huge mural declares his love for the harbour. The artist likes to put industry and nature in relation, making the viewer think about people and their treatment of each other and the planet. He works on small-scale ceramic art when not creating large wall graffiti.
6 | Changing space by Samuel Treindl
The little city garden at the corner of the street is abuzz with insects. The “7000 Butterflies” open-community garden is a paradise for them, as well as a resting place for residents and anyone who happens to pass by on their street art walk. The garden is centred around a sculpture by Samuel Treindl, whose work represents anarchistic productions and material research.
7 | Street art can say much more than words
“More than Words” is an association of four artists who professionally design facades, electricity boxes, trains, cars, or interiors. Their traces can be found on the RADIUS tour as well.
8 | Views and insights along the Street Art Walk
The round trip not only leads past pieces of art by RADIUS exclusively. It also goes past Dortmund’s harbour with further street art motifs, alternative harbour cafés, and former industrial buildings.
9 | Land under in Dortmund
A huge wave splashes across the Dortmunder U, raised on large steles along with the entire harbour. Next to it there are an oversized message in a bottle and a Yellow Submarine. This work by Robert Matze aka Rookie, and artist known for his work sarcastically and mockingly commenting on everyday situations, is hiding in an inner courtyard. This graffiti of his is reminiscent of a camera snapshot.
10 | Fish, microscopes, and notes upon notes by Pandora 2.0
Some works of art are large enough to require you to take a step back to take them in. The side wall designed by Pandora 2.0 in the harbour area is just as turbulent as it is immense: Fish, pieces of paper, a microscope, a shark – the mural appears like a curious aquarium where you can just keep on discovering new motifs.
Pandora 2.0 is a work and meeting place made of containers right by the harbour basin. The community strives to turn wasteland into beautiful places – with great success!
11 | The cultural venue Depot in Dortmund
The Depot is one of the initiators of the RADIUS Art Walk. It also keeps hosting some great exhibitions, concerts, and interventions. The Street Art walk leads right past the Depot – and it’s always worth to have a look inside.
12 | A thousand coloured eyes by Ursula Meyer
A stone wall covered in brightly coloured eyes right at the Depot. There is also another bench here that invites passers-by to take a break. Creator Ursula Meyer loves all kinds of colours. She not only wants to make the world a little more colourful, but also to make people passing by wonder about what they see.
13 | Tiny art to look find and marvel at
Where is the art hidden here? After all the large murals and bright splashes of colour in the city, Evelyn Bracklow invites us to go looking for little details. The artist has hidden ants in five locations in the Hafenwiese allotment. Each of them is tiny, sized true to life. Some of them are crawling up the clubhouse. Can you find the others?
Other artworks at SPIEL-RÄUME
- 1 | Building façade with messages to reflect on
- 2 | HOME in capital letters
- 3 | Braille art
- 4 | What does nature in the city mean to you?
- 5 | A gable wall full of home
- Tab
1 | Building façade with messages to reflect on
Graffiti artist Marc Kemper’s motto is “Moving in space while minimising waste and maximising joy” – accordingly, the short messages on this wall encourage us to think about our relationship with the city, waste, nature, home, and living space. Where do we feel at home? Is it the city, nature, earth?
2 | HOME in capital letters by Markus Wiese
Dortmund artist Markus Wiese aka “Mason” mostly uses typography and geometry in his work – as he does for RADIUS. The letter designs are reminiscent of fiery sunsets above the Ruhr region. The artist started out with spray paint in the 1980s, inspired by street art in cities such as Amsterdam, London, and Paris.
3 | Braille art by Alexis Dworsky
The outer wall of the Rheinisch-Westfälische Realschule has some tangible street art, as art professor Alexis Dworsky, among other things travelling the world by Google Street View and giving lectures on it, has installed one of his pieces of Braille art at the Dortmund school for hearing-impaired pupils and children with communication problems.
4 | What does nature in the city mean to you?
The RADIUS artworks along the walk in Dortmund’s Nordstadt district are supplemented by street art messages left by other artists or unknown authors.
A container slowly lowering down onto an anchor – André Trafic’s huge mural declares his love for the harbour. The artist likes to put industry and nature in relation, making the viewer think about people and their treatment of each other and the planet. He works on small-scale ceramic art when not creating large wall graffiti.
