The 1.3-kilometer long stretch of the once-notorious Berlin Wall is the world’s largest open-air gallery. Originally painted by artists from across the world in 1990, the East Side Gallery is a continually evolving testimony to freedom—as much a piece of social history as a notable presentation of Modern Art. The bold statements of peace and images of political satire brandished across the wall still embody the feeling of euphoria after the plummet of the divide in 1989.

In 2009, for the 20th anniversary of the fall of the wall, the city of Berlin conducted a restoration project that included reinforcing the wall, whitewashing it, and inviting the original artists to repaint exact copies of their works. Many of the invited artists simply declined, or were put off by a low fixed payment of 3000€, but finally, 86 of the artists faithfully dedicated their paint brushes to repainting the famous strip in preparation for the worldwide celebrations that followed.