Frankfurter KunstSäule

Vernissage: CALLING WALTER BENJAMIN

Artist Pietro Finelli on the exhibition:

"The unique nature of the site where the art column stands—a small urban park crisscrossed by the remains of ancient, historic graves—means that my intervention is situated in the middle of a pathway: it addresses the living, but also those who are no longer here. A place is never neutral; it is the result of layers accumulated over centuries.

The art column is conceived as a crossroads, a site of intersection addressing the living and the dead, the present and the historical past—yet not without a spark of the future: that future which constantly dissolves into the seconds of time, of the "now."

I wanted to shape the tower as a place of remembrance, aptly described by the Hebrew term *ZAKHOR* (זכור). This word is concealed within the art column, at its very innermost core; for the column—now clad in the garments of history—becomes an emblematic site, a radiating intersection within the city’s wounded space and within the space of time alike. It is like a lighthouse casting its beam upon both calm and stormy seas: signaling danger while simultaneously marking the location and transforming it into an emblem.

I believe the task of art is to activate states of energy, to bring forth living substance amidst an appearance of stillness—something that speaks to those who know how to ask or to question, much like the Oracle of Delphi.

My intervention is also a tribute to Walter Benjamin, an author I have always loved."

The Frankfurt KunstSäule, a project by Florian Koch and Daniel Hartlaub, presents three rotating exhibitions a year in public space—at the corner of Brückenstraße and Gutzkowstraße in Sachsenhausen. In 2026, the KunstSäule will be part of WDC 2026.