The starting point for this moving mural in Mannheim’s Quadrate is the art project of the same name, “Against Oblivion”, by Mannheim-based photographer and filmmaker LUIGI TOSCANO. He travels the world to capture portraits of Holocaust survivors. In his photographs, he not only preserves the faces marked by fate but also the stories of the survivors. In 2015, his powerful portraits were exhibited for the first time in oversized format on the façade of the Alte Feuerwache in Mannheim. Following the international success of the resulting traveling exhibition in public spaces – including in Kyiv, New York, and Geneva – the project returned to Mannheim in 2020, reinterpreted by German street artist AKUT.

Already in 2019, STADT.WAND.KUNST had the idea of bringing the two artists together for a mural. Their shared commitment to a culture of remembrance quickly led to a collaboration. Through conversations and extensive research, AKUT immersed himself in TOSCANO’s work. From among the hundreds of eyewitnesses, he chose two portraits for his adaptation that seemed particularly fitting to him: Bella Shirin and Horst Sommerfeld.