In October 2023, Berlin-based artists Norman Behrendt and Eric Pawlitzky began constructing a fictitious underground metro line between Kyiv and Berlin, aiming to create a poetic link between the two cities. The project initiated as part of a one-month-long artist-in-residence at Kyiv's Institute of Automation, was first presented in public space at Kazymyra Malevycha St and later at the Contemporary Art Center M17 in Kyiv as part of the “Assembly Scheme” exhibition. Moving into its second phase, the artists plan to collaborate with local artists to install sculptures along the theoretical route, with potential locations including Lviv, Krakow, and Wroclaw.
The sculptural project began during the “Ich komme und Sehe” residency, initiated by German painter Paul Maciejowski and supported by Kunststiftung NRW and the artist group Nahirna22. In a studio at the Institute of Automation, the artists conducted extensive research, including a walk along the M1 metro line, producing initial designs and technical drawings for the new metro network. They created plaster reliefs from casts of local decorative elements, such as the PO-2 wall segment and a Kyiv Metro signet, and presented their designs and models during an open studio day. Their work included a sunken relief route plan, models for ventilation architecture, and a sound installation derived from field recordings made in both cities.
The residency concluded with an installation of the sculpture on a wasteland at Kazymyr Malevich Street in Kyiv's public space. The presented installation consists of an emergency exit sculpture, two ventilation shafts with a sound installation, and a plaster metro map produced as a sunken relief.
The central piece, a modular emergency exit sculpture, merges design elements from both the Kyiv Metro and Berlin U-Bahn, imagining the existence of an underground line.
Norman Behrendt, known for his interest in the architecture of underground systems, has previously mapped and cataloged metro infrastructure in cities like Prague, Warsaw, and Berlin. His works, such as Blueprint, 2017-20 and Alternative, 2019-20, explore nationalism, xenophobia, and contemporary image culture. Eric Pawlitzky, who explores space through walking as a research method, has produced works like Alles ist Weg and Seumes Weg, which delve into history and political geography through photo-texts, drawings, and sound.
The artists draw inspiration of the work of Martin Kippenberger, who envisioned a global metro network with his sculpture series Metronet (1993-97). Kippenberger created in different places around the world realistically looking metro entrances and ventilation shafts that have no function. The artwork was conceived as a means of transportation for journeys in the unlimited space of imagination. Likewise, the highly topical work A Metro In Gaza by Palestinian artist Mohammed Abusal envisions a seven-line metro network for the Gaza Strip, presenting as if it were already a reality by designing a metro sign and photographing it at 70 proposed stops across the Gaza strip.
The Kyiv Berlin Metro project envisions a future rooted in social and territorial cohesion, fostering solidarity between EU member states and Ukraine. By installing permanent metro sculptures in Kyiv, Berlin, and other cities along the imagined route, the artists aim to merge local architectural styles with sustainable innovations like photovoltaic energy, creating enduring symbols of unity and progress.