Street art museum opens in Berlin, a hub for the scene

Street art has a new, permanent home in Berlin.

Works by artists from around the world have gone on show at the Urban Nation Museum for Urban Contemporary Art in the German capital, located at one end of a street that is already something of a giant art gallery.

The paintings, from left, 'Dropper" by Eric Jones, 'La Cage Entre Victoire Et Defaite' by Sandra Chevrier and 'The Distance Between Is Equal' by David Walker are displayed inside the exhibition of the new Urban Nation Museum for Urban Contemporary Art in Berlin, Germany. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

The opening exhibition, which will last for around nine months, aims to introduce visitors to the culture of urban art. Yasha Young, the museum's creative director, worked with eight curators from various countries to produce a show that explores strands including portraits, pop art and activism.

The scene so far has lacked an "informative hub," Young said Monday. She said that part of the idea is "teaching people a new language, which is the language of street art, graffiti and urban contemporary art."

The director of the new Urban Nation Museum for Urban Contemporary Art, Yasha Young poses on stairs inside the exhibition in Berlin, Germany, Monday, Sept. 18, 2017. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

A staircase decked out in British artist Ben Eine's colored lettering links the two floors of the new museum, which features work by artists familiar from the streets of Berlin and beyond.

There's a wall by Portuguese artist Vhils, works by New York-based Iranian duo Icy and Sot, Sao Paulo-based Marina Zumi and France's Mademoiselle Maurice, among others — some of whose works grace or have graced facades on the street outside and elsewhere in the city. One of Banksy's "Gangsta Rats" is also present.

(AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

The museum also hosts a library that centers on street art photographer Martha Cooper's archive of books and magazines.

Young envisions the museum — four years in the making — as "an archive and a hub" in a city that is itself an urban art hub.

General view inside the exhibition of the new Urban Nation Museum for Urban Contemporary Art in Berlin, Germany, Monday, Sept. 18, 2017.  (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

"There's so many people here from all over the world living here because Berlin is still in the spirit of, maybe, old New York," she said. "It is affordable, it is good for an artist to be here, the networks are great."

CAIRO (AP) — A boat belonging to an Egyptian pharaoh is being assembled in full view at the Grand Egyptian Museum’s exhibition hall.

Staff began piecing together the cedarwood boat, one of two that were found that belong to King Khufu, Tuesday morning as dozens of visitors watched.

The assembly of the 42-meter (137-foot) -long vessel, which sits next to its already-assembled twin that has been on display, is expected to take around four years, according to Issa Zeidan, head of restoration at the Grand Egyptian Museum. It contains 1,650 wooden pieces.

King Khufu ruled ancient Egypt more than 4,500 years ago and built the Great Pyramid of Giza.

“You’re witnessing today one of the most important restoration projects in the 21st century,” said Tourism and Antiquities Minister Sherif Fathy, who attended the event.

The $1 billion museum, also known as GEM, was touted as the world’s largest when it was lavishly inaugurated last month. It's home to nearly 50,000 artifacts, including the collection of treasures from the tomb of the famed King Tutankhamun, which was discovered in 1922. The museum, located near the pyramids at the edge of Cairo, is expected to boost Egypt’s tourism revenues and help bolster its ailing economy.

The boat was one of two discovered in 1954, opposite the southern side of the Great Pyramid. The excavation of its wooden parts began in 2014, according to the museum’s website.

The exact purpose of the boats remains unclear, but experts believe they were either used to transport King Khufu’s body during his funeral or were meant to be used for his afterlife journey with the sun god Ra, according to the museum.

Archeologists prepare to reassemble the second solar boat of King Khufu, at the Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza, Egypt, Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)

Archeologists measure an ancient wooden block as they prepare to reassemble the second solar boat of King Khufu, at the Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza, Egypt, Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)

Archeologists carry an ancient wooden block as they reassemble the second solar boat of King Khufu, at the Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza, Egypt, Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)

People film archeologists as they reassemble the second solar boat of King Khufu, at the Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza, Egypt, Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)

Visitors view the first solar boat of King Khufu, at the Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza, Egypt, Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)