SPACES TO A-VOID
Prisoner of conscience:
‘Any person who is physically restrained, by imprisonment or otherwise, from expressing in any form of words or symbols any opinion he honestly holds and which does not advocate or condone personal violence.’
Amnesty International
2008 - 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:
What are we waiting for?
ABOUT 13 ISOLATIONS Artists have long understood the importance of integrity as a motivation for achieving a better world. 13 ISOLATIONS will challenge that integrity by placing 13 artists in solitary confinement for 29 days. Their imprisonment will be a metaphor for the discrimination, exploitation and stigmatization in Europe and the world, of millions of asylum seekers, racial, ethnic and religious minorities and women confined in ‘spaces to a-void’ such as ghettos, refugee camps, housing projects and prostitution.
We know that, as effectively as physical imprisonment, discrimination limits, inhibits and even represses the free expression of opinions and ideas. We do not know to what extent these ‘spaces to a-void’ stifle or, arguably, influence imagination and creative work.
The Social Objective
The exhibition 13 ISOLATIONS aims to contain and utilize the imagination of 13 artists in order to reflect three ‘spaces to avoid’: repression, imprisonment and isolation. Via Internet, we will create the largest possible viewing of an art event ever attempted. More importantly, our website will establish a channel for serious discourse among students, businesses, human rights organizations, grassroots networks, art galleries, ngo’s and the European Union, providing a format for posting commentary and innovative solutions. All contributions and documentation accumulated on the following subjects will be accessible for public and private use:
*The Plight of Immigrants Around the World
*Child Labour
*Forced Labour
*Human Trafficking
*Land and Economic Refugees
*Trafficking of Natural Resources
*Genocide
*Ghettos, Racism and Chauvinsm
*Unfair and/or Wrongful Imprisonment
*Abuse of Authority and Power
*Suppression of the Media
*Crimes Against the Environment
*World Hunger
The Personal Objective
As artists we are committed to finding resolution through research and discovery.
13 ISOLATIONS is an exercise in art imitating life, but in its totality it is true to the value of art for art’s sake. The exhibition addresses the effects of confinement on creativity and seeks to answer the following questions:
Does confinement make one express repentance or defiance?
What images come forth when there is no external inspiration?
What are the effects of physical isolation on spatial sensibility?
Can isolation bring one closer to defining art?
Does intuition overcome the intellect to help the creative mind survive confinement?
Will an artist who is concept-oriented abandon it for the surreal?
The Participants
The 13 artists will represent different countries, cultures and races. Selected from various creative disciplines, they will provide the range of artistic endeavor and the subtleties needed to portray these human rights issues. They will agree to confinement for the full 29 days and to work on a piece or pieces which will be shown in Hoorn immediately following the confinement period and will travel to Amsterdam and other venues after the initial exhibition.
Sponsors and Support Network
We will attempt to fund this project with contributions from the public who wish to help
support this unique exhibition. We will be soliciting contributions on this website.
Corporate and business support will be sought for both monetary and in-kind contributions in exchange for brand and trademark exposure. In addition to the artists’ exhibition, international human rights organizations, international aid organizations, government agencies, cultural groups, universities, notable individuals and celebrities, politicians and concerned citizens who support the project will receive our assistance in creating an exhibition that reflects their specific mission.
All sponsors will be credited in the catalogue which accompanies the exhibition and in other
suitable forms of publicity.
The project will be documented and reproduced to satisfy several different communication media: catalogue, DVD, POD-cast, live streaming, television, and images printed for promotional purposes.
Prison site: Oostereiland - Hoorn, The Netherlands
Exhibition site: Oostereiland - Hoorn, The Netherlands
Press Party: Amsterdam Hilton July 31, 2008 @ 20:00
Prison Confinement: Oostereiland Prison August 1, 2008 - August 29, 2008
Release Party / Exhibition Opening: Oostereiland Prison August 30, 2008
Exhibition: Oostereiland Prison Hoorn September 1, 2008 - September 14, 2008
More Information:
Mr Anthony Murrell, project director
Telephone: 31-0627178946
info@13isolations.com
www.episodesnetwork.org
|
