The cultural program of the German Presidency of the Council of the EU started with an innovative project
Olafur Eliasson's collective work of art "Earth Speakr" will gather ideas from young Europeans and offer solutions
On the occasion of the German Presidency of the Council of the EU, Germany will conduct a new form of cultural program that will allow it to cover the entire EU. The core of the cultural program is the interactive work of art - "Earth Speakr" by one of the most popular contemporary artists Olafur Eliasson. Conceived as a co-production with children and young people from all over Europe, the work aims to enable young Europeans to express their views on the future, to bring them to the public domain and to bring them to the attention of decision-makers in Europe.
The work, which launches on 1 July, consists of a mobile game app, Earth Speakr and an interactive website, both available in all 24 official EU languages; also includes presentations of projects from selected locations. To convey children's ideas and concerns about the future of the planet and increase the reach of this collective work of art, Eliasson and his team are working with a growing network of partners across Europe, which also includes museums, schools and libraries.
The application invites children and adolescents aged 7-17 to record short voice messages. Through the application, their digital face will be designed, which reflects the real expressions on their faces. If, through the function of the camera, the digital face is placed on objects in the vicinity, it animates them - for example - a tree, a lake, a trash can, everything possible of their choice; the relevant animate objects will "speak" the message. These creative voice messages will shape the overall picture of ideas and concerns across the EU and beyond. The collected voice messages will be able to be viewed through the website, as well as viewed in the application in the form of augmented-reality animations. Adults and children will be able to view the creative messages in the form of animated objects and combine them into augmented-reality-collages. Geo-Tagging will be able to geographically mark in real places, and shared through the app, will invite even more people to hear the voices of children and young people who are committed to the planet and its future. A central aspect of the work is the transmission of messages to decision makers, change-makers and global managers.
Participation:
Kids can create Earth Speakr messages and invite their friends to join.
Adults can read, combine and share Earth Speakr messages to support important topics. At the same time, they can show how specifically they are committed to young people's concerns.
As an institution or network, events can be offered and children and teenagers can be invited to participate - digitally or on site. Work materials for designing Earth Speakr campaigns for children and adolescents will be available on the Earth Speakr website from July 1, allowing you to integrate works of art into your program.
If you work in politics, you can join by listening to what future voters have to say and considering ways to respond to the issues raised through Earth Speakr.
The artist Olafur Eliasson hopes that he will inspire people in his work and put on the agenda the issues raised through Earth Speakr, as well as that children and young people will be heard and taken seriously.
Private message from Olafur Eliasson: https://vimeo.com/415073357/fc7840b985
To participate, write to Earth Speakr at [email protected]
Follow the project on Instagram: @earthspeakr @studioolafureliasson www.earthspeakr.art
Olafur Eliasson (* 1967) is a world-renowned Danish-Icelandic artist. Works with sculpture, painting, photography, film, installations and digital media. Olafur represented Denmark at the 50th Venice Biennale in 2003. His studio is in Berlin. www.olafureliasson.net