Kaya Urhan

Hendrik Beikirch painted a 600 square metre portrait of the former smelter worker Kaya Urhan on the metal cladding of the former Saarstahl continuous casting plant on Rathausstraße. Beikirch, who as a graffiti artist is one of the most important European pioneers in the development of today's urban mural painting, has long focussed on monumental monochrome portraits of real people. Kaya Urhan, portrayed here, came to Völklingen from Turkey in 1971 and witnessed the last tapping at Blast Furnace III in 1986. Even as a pensioner, he has always remained an avowed Völklinger. With the structural change, he became a contemporary witness of the Völklingen Ironworks. He filmed one of the last working days of pig iron production in 1986 himself. The World Heritage Site is now able to present this unique document online from the authentic perspective of the workers on site. "The special character of a region is always created by the lives and actions of those who spend their lives there," says Hendrik Beikirch. With his portrait, he is helping to ensure that this is not so easily overlooked.

Robert Kaltenhäuser