Palmen am Rhein
Paint on wall, dimensions variable
Ludwigshafen am Rhein, 2021
Curated by Astrid Ihle for MURALU
Commissioned by Wihlelm-Hack-Museum
The wall painting is located in the "Gartenstadt" district on a GAG building and borrows its name from a series of articles with "Palmen am Rhein" in their title.
Observing the streets of around the intervention site in Ludwigshafen-souther Germany-first with GoogleMaps and then in person, I got attracted by the unexpected presence of palm trees in gardens and planters, and I started looking for information and material about this, finding indeed several articles.
The first article describes how palms have become part of the gardens and urban landscape of the Rhineland in recent decades due to climate change and the selection of some species that can withstand the German cold.
In a second article, a journalist of Der Spiegel recounts about his second trip to Ludwigshafen – described by him as a ghost town in a previous article – marveling at the presence of potted palms along the concrete terraces on the river almost like a scenographic element put on purpose to make him change his mind.
A third article talks about the appearance of tomatoes and watermelons on the lowered banks of the Rhine as an indicator of global warming. In this case, the title refers to the possible transformation of the continental climate into a Mediterranean climate and the consequential appearance of palm trees along the river.
This work is part of a series of new paintings that have potted palms as their subject. The palm tree is a plant that generally fascinates me in many ways. I get captured by its ability to adapt, its resistance that allows seeds to germinate even after thousands of years, its shape, and the symbolic meaning and narratives associated with palm trees in many ancient and modern cultures.
