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EARTH SPEAKR

Earth Speakr is a collective artwork that invites kids to be artists. What Earth Speakr will become depends on the Earth Speakrs – their creativity and imagination. The artwork is made up of their thoughts and visions, concerns and hopes. What they create can be playful and whimsical, serious, or poetic. There is no right or wrong, and it is easy for everyone to take part. Earth Speakr invites kids to speak their hearts and minds and participate in shaping our world and the planet.

In today’s debates over climate policy, it is crucial that the voices of the next generation are heard loud and clear, since it is they who will live in the future that we are currently shaping. The artwork brings together their voices and amplifies what they have to say. We – adults, decision-makers, and politicians– need to hear the kids’ creative messages and take them seriously.

– Olafur Eliasson

Earth Speakr is an artwork created by Olafur Eliasson with his studio, kids, creative partners, researchers, and experts. It is funded by the Federal Foreign Office on the occasion of the German Presidency of the Council of the European Union 2020 and realised in cooperation with the Goethe-Institut.

Earth Speakr is free-of-charge and promotes collaboration and reflection between people of all ages across Europe on climate change and the future of the planet. It consists of a playful app and an interactive website (in all 24 official EU languages), as well as physical presentations in key locations.

Everyone can download the Earth Speakr app and animate their environment using playful interactive technology. Kids and young people below the voting age can choose to take part by giving their voice to anything – a tree, a banana peel, the sky, or the street – and speak up for their local surroundings and for the planet. Their creative messages are shared on www.earthspeakr.art and experienced on the app via Augmented Reality (AR).

A crucial aspect of the artwork is the communication of Earth Speakr messages to the ears of today’s decision-makers, change-makers, and global leaders.

Olafur Eliasson (b. 1967) is a visual artist working with sculpture, painting, photography, film, installation, and digital media. His studio is based in Berlin.
www.olafureliasson.net
www.soe.tv

Since 1 July 2020, kids’ messages will appear on Earth Speakr’s virtual map, and Loud Speakrs can be viewed in AR at prominent locations across the EU.

Get involved

If you’re a kid, you can create Earth Speakr messages and invite your friends to make more.

If you’re a grown up, explore the Earth Speakr messages, create groups of messages – so- called Loud Speakrs – and share with others to amplify the topics that you find most relevant and to demonstrate how you act in response to kids’ concerns.

If you’re an institution or part of a network, you can host an event and encourage kids to participate – digitally or in per- son. Toolkits available on the website in July will guide you in co-creating engaging activities for kids to explore the artwork and in bringing EarthSpeakr into your existing programming.

If you work in politics, you can get involved by listening to what future constituents have to say and considering how you can bestrespond to the topics they raise. Eliasson hopes you will be inspired to bring Earth Speakr messages to the table to make kids feel met and heard.

Are you ready to listen to the future?

Watch Olafur Eliasson on Earth Speakr here to get inspired!

The Earth Speakr app is available on: App Store; Google Play Check out the tutorial here.

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