Useful Art for Communities

Art Installation

BY BEATRIZ GONZALEZ RODRIGUEZ

Save Our
Soul

S.O.S is a transportable art installation in solidarity with refugees in Denmark which will be shown in different parts of Aarhus (e.g. gardens, playgrounds or on the seaside). Giant S.O.S letters will be made out of 1000 flowers made of plastic waste, which will be collected from different cities of Denmark. By this acronym, we want to underly that asylum seekers are primarily people who run from such disasters as wars and climate change and it is an ethical responsibility of those people who live in peace and prosperity to help those who escape a miserable life. 

This project has been documented and archived by the UAC organization and it’s available for future public exhibitions request.

 

This art installation project aimed at giving voice to all the people who are in disagreement with the current Danish immigration laws and it strongly believes that the Danish government can do much more to protect the refugees’ human rights. It also wanted to create a space where people would be encouraged to rethink their sense of justice and their social values and practice mutual respect. 

The S.O.S message is made out of plastic waste since we want to stress the connection between refugees crossing the Mediterranean Sea and the huge amount of plastic found in it. We must be aware that environmental catastrophes are inseparable from the well-being of people, as the strong correlation between freshwater shortages and wars show.

Also, letters from refugees, stateless people, immigrants, migrants together with Danish citizens will be digitally linked to the flowers (the stories will be found through QR Codes). These letters will contain reflections about transculturation as two-way road, inclusive spaces, diversity and healthy social systems. They will also narrate refugees’ lives, emotional states, events, dreams or just thoughts which they want to share, and Danish’ stories connected with refugees.

S.O.S was a project involving two workshops in its process of production:

The Narrative Workshop 

will consist in collecting refugees’ stories on their life experience (they will be asked questions such as: What life-experiences (be they positive or negative) would you like to share with others? What do you desire in life, what are your dreams or goals? How do you feel about your new country of residence?) and stories of the Danish citizens connected to the refugees. And they will need to write their stories down in no more than 20 lines, anonymously (or not), and in their native languages if they wish to. The goal of the workshop is to make the refugees’ voices be heard and to establish a conversation between the Danish citizens and the displaced by means of an art installation.

The Upcycling Plastic Workshop

consists of making flowers out of wasted plastic, together with refugees and their supporters. Its goal is to make out of these flowers—to which the refugees’ stories produced in the Narrative Workshop will be attached — huge letters S.O.S.

The Golden Book

Every participant that contributes by making a flower for the installation, leaves a flower stamp on the book. It communicates how many flowers have been made in total, at the moment we have more than 400 flowers and 300 letters. Our goal is to share a voice of 1000 people.

 

You can also contribute from home, workplace or school!

Flow the steps of how to make a flower by clicking on the link below and send it to us to Institut for (X) (Godsbanen) Skovgaardsgade 5C, 8000 Aarhus, Denmark.
https://www.instagram.com/stories/highlights/17849012431725200

To contribute with your story please send it to sos@uacartplatform.com we will love to hear you voice regarding migration systems: where we are from and where we live? How do we look at our self? How we should care about the people which is an unfortunate and desperate situation…

We have been collaborating with:

Collaboration with Waste Hunt Project, Solidarity Project Aarhus, International Café Project, Lysfest for humanisme at Udrejsecenter Kærshovedgård and Brenderup Højskole (projektlinje ‘Skaberiet’), Livets Vand festival – Silkeborg, UKH Space festival – Aarhus, Clouster Square festival – Aarhus, D-funk, Mellemfolk Samvikirke, Gellerup Library, Dook 1 – Aarhus. BIG THANKS for supporting the cause.

To Be Continued…

WE ARE ALL IN THIS PLANET TOGETHER,
BE PART OF THE CHANGE – WE NEED YOU
THANKS ❤️