The Keith Haring mural along a 300-meter stretch of the Berlin Wall was painted near Potsdamer Platz in 1986 after an invitation from the Director of the Checkpoint Charlie Museum. The work depicted a chain of interlinked human figures in the black, red, and yellow of the German flag, symbolizing the desire for unity between East and West. The next day, large sections of the mural were painted over in grey, believed to be a political protest against its optimistic message. In the following months, the wall section was gradually covered by the work of other artists. Haring stated that his intention was to draw attention so that the world would know it had happened, reinforcing its political significance. For him, mural painting was by nature temporary; what mattered was that its existence had already been established.