Artist Jeannine Platz turns containers in the harbour of Hamburg into works of art that set out to please the eyes of people on other continents and to pass on an important symbol that connects everyone.
Jeannine Platz needed four days to transform the red 40-foot container into a real work of art with impressive dimensions of 12×2.5 metres. She covered the unusual artistic material with a view of the port of Hamburg. The container covered with the landscape has been on the road since May this year and is expected to visit almost all continents within a year or so, informs Hamburg Süd, which commissioned the painting.
The company sent this unique container to the east coast of South America – to Santos in Brazil. From there, it will head north to the east coast of the USA. It will then continue its route through the Panama Canal to Peru or Chile, from where it will go to Auckland in New Zealand, to Sydney and then on to Asia.
There, the container will start its return journey, via the Suez Canal to Hamburg, where it will arrive not before 2021.
A symbol of solidarity
The joint project of the painter and Hamburg Süd, which resulted in a unique container, is intended to symbolise solidarity in a difficult time of pandemic.
Because of the coronavirus, almost all borders in this world were closed for the first time. Intercontinental air traffic has largely stopped. This makes the sea the same as it used to be: it is the only connection between continents for people who exchange ideas and do business,” said Jeannine Platz.
“The journey of the container thus becomes a symbol of overcoming closed borders between continents and countries. The container itself is a symbol of global solidarity despite growing national isolationism in this world. This solidarity is expressed by the citation of a seaman placed on the second outer wall of the container: You dip your finger into the sea and are in touch with the whole world,” adds Platz.
Photos: Hamburg Süd