Südpfeil x Saskia Diez

„Südpfeil" is J. MAYER H.’s permanent Kunst-am-Bau intervention for the Humboldt Forum in Berlin. Selected as the first-prize winner from 130 submissions in an international competition, it was installed in April 2026 as the eighth and final art-in-architecture work at the Forum. A nearly four-metre bronze-coloured arrow appears to pierce the northern façade.

The work takes its starting point from the so-called Arrow Storks: migratory birds found with African arrows in their bodies, which provided early evidence of transcontinental migration routes. „Südpfeil" uses this historical phenomenon to address global interconnectedness while confronting the colonial histories embedded in the Humboldt Forum and its collections. Its position and form deliberately remain ambivalent: an arrow can suggest threat or aggression, but also direction and connection. The jury highlighted this ambiguity and the work’s ability to open different readings of the site and its history.

For this collaboration, J. MAYER H. and Saskia Diez translate the public artwork into two small objects.

"Südpfeil mini" is a six-centimetre miniature of the original sculpture, constructed according to the same principle and made from blackened brass. It can be mounted on a wall, bringing the public intervention into a private space.

ARROW reduces the sculpture to its essential gesture. Made from polished recycled sterling silver, it can be worn as a brooch, earring, or piercing.

Both objects shift the arrow from monumental to personal: from a public intervention to an intimate sign of connection and exchange.