ART OF FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS

ART OF
FUNDAMENTAL
RIGHTS

Over time, art has created democratic formation within people of all ages, because it is a form of communication that helps spread and reinforce the general knowledge about current trends in our society. The purpose is that the artwork will inspire a broad public to interact in the debate on our common fundamental rights. With the Art of Fundamental Rights, we want to raise awareness about our fundamental human rights through art, because they continue to be under attack in several countries. We are seeing these developments all over the world, including in Europe, where authoritarian regimes exercise power over minorities and vulnerable groups.

2024 exhibitions

brussels

final event 2024

The conference in the European Parliament was called Fundamental Rights and the Rule of Law in the European Union

The high-level conference hosted by all the partners in the chARTer project partner. We wanted to use themomentum to provide a critical platform to examine the state of fundamental rights and the rule of law within the European Union, especially in light of the challenges facing civil society and democratic participation. This was the overall purpose of the event, where also the chARTer project was evaluated. In the European Parliament, the room was decorated with the artwork.

folkemøder

2023/2024

In the 2023 and 2024 we had have the exhibition installed in a tent doing the entire Folkemøde/Democracy Festival. Doing the festival many people have seen the artwork, have had a discussion about fundamental rights and the charter, with many people either participating in the events of the tent or just walking by. The entire purpose of having the artwork installed at the festival has been to raise awareness about the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union through the power of art and informal civic interaction with different kind of people. Doing the two festivals we experience a lot of face-to-face dialogues with people around fundamental rights and art.

cologne

ep-election debate 2024

The event took part in cooperation with the Volkshochschule Cologne (VHS Köln) and the Europe Office of the City of Cologne. The Cologne Adult Education Centre (VHS Köln) is the largest further education institution in North Rhine-Westphalia. It was founded in 1919 and is run by the city of Cologne.

The aims of the event were to

raise awareness about the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and its chapters through the power of art;
increase citizen participation & engagement of a new segment of citizens to participate in democracy – especially with regards to the upcoming Elections to the European Parliament with the Charter in mind
reflect on the artwork and discuss the significance of the Charter and the rights enshrined in it.

To achieve these goals, the event started with an informative introduction to the project and the EU-funding, the Charter, the connection between art, culture and rights, and the upcoming elections. As participants were seated in the middle of the art exhibition to inspire the discussion, this presentation was followed by a deeper introduction into the exhibition and the interpreted rights.

The event continued with a panel debate on culture and rights in the EU with four candidates to the 2024 EP-elections and one party’s culture spokesperson. The parties present were: SPD (Social Democrats), Grüne (Greens), FDP (Liberals), Volt, and the Left (Linke; via culture spokesperson).

denmark

ep-election debate 2024

Throughout the EP-election campaign the priorities of the Art of Fundamental Rights have been very high. All the materials have been handed out doing the debates, and people are really eager to get the posters and talk about fundamental rights.

These events on this election tour has been with in collaboration with especially a lot of different youth institution around Denmark, in which the debates and discussion has been for the youth participants at these institutions, and therefore there was no need for a larger communication effort to recruit people to participate in the public debate around why fundamental rights are important and why their voices, and the youth voices are crucial important at the EP-election.

All events where in collaboration with local stakeholders, who had a more indebt knowledge about the target group in especially that area.

All the events were built up open an open and safe debate insure that people could talk freely about their concerns related to the EP-election and what priorities they had. At almost all the debates we had EP-candidates as part of the event to give their ideas for why it was important to vote and how they wanted tot secure fundamental rights in the future.

barcelona

ep-election debate 2024

The three-day ChARTer event took place in the public meeting point Creu Coberta in Barcelona on 30th of May to 12t of June 2024. The location is an open street art square that is also part of a cultural center, where local citizens as well as visitors walk by or hang out. Additionally to the 13 artworks done by professional artists, we decided to reexhibit the 6 pieces from the neighborhood school of Cal Maiol, which were part of our previous event and exhibition in January.

The main part of the event was a debate, where we got a deeper understanding of the importance of fundamental rights, the Charter and why and how the protection of fundamental rights are related to the European election.

athens

ep-election debate 2024

The workshop "European Elections and Beyond: Citizen Dialogues on the Future of the EU" brought together citizens to engage in meaningful discussions about the European Elections and the future of the European Union. Through a combination of plenary sessions and breakout group discussions, participants voiced their opinions, exchanged ideas, and drafted actionable recommendations for the members of the European Parliament (MEPs).

warsaw

ep-election debate 2024

The event was organised in the form of a panel debate, less than three weeks before the European Parliament elections. The debate was accompanied by a virtual poster exhibition, postcards and brochures of the Charter of Fundamental Rights created by the ChARTer project.

On 9 June, all EU countries decided who will represent us in the European Parliament. In this important institution, topics relevant to each of us are discussed. From single market regulation, instant payments, improving conditions in the workplace to tackling challenges together, such as the COVID-19 pandemic or the war in Ukraine. Established with the EP's involvement, EU law affects most areas of our lives and the EU's external relations.

In the debate with the participation of the young generation, we aimed to look at how the EU influences the lives of young people in Poland and the entire European community? What are the demands of the young generation towards the future EU authorities? What values do young Europeans particularly care about? How can they increase their influence on policies and decisions made in the EU institutions?

brussels

doing the Belgian EU

Presidency 2024

On 18 and 19 April, ECF and an informal coalition of civil society organisations hosted by Civil Society Europe, including our members Nyt Europe, CNVOS, Batory Foundation and FDSC hosted a roundtable on a protection mechanism for human rights defenders and CSOs in Europe. The event took place in the context of the European elections and as a follow up to the European Commission’s 2022 report on the application of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, and was hosted by EFTA HOUSE in Brussels.

The roundtable brought together roughly 40 civil society representatives from across Europe, including human rights defenders in exile in Europe with the aim to discuss the existing protection needs and design a potential Protection Mechanism for Human Rights Defenders and civil society organisations across Europe. The event included a public discussion with the European Commission and the Belgian EU Presidency, and members of the Council and other institutions about how they could take up the findings of the discussion as part of implementing the strategy on the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. The exhibition “Art of fundamental rights” was showcased throughout the event as a visual support for the debate in the frame of the chARTer project aiming to promote and reinforce the value of the EU Charter of fundamental rights.

barcelona

The two day chARTer event took place in the culture house Lleialtat Santsenca in Barcelona on 18 th and 19 th of January 2024. However the exhibition event, where people and participants are provided with the opportunity to walk around and think about our common rights while studying the art, are still installed in the local culture house.

The main part of the event was trough the workshops and debate we got a deeper understanding of the importance of fundamental rights and the Charter.
As the event took place over two days, we were really able to reach two very different target groups when talking about the Charter of Fundamental Rights because of two very diffent apporches to discuss the EU charter. The exhibition was the turning point for the conversations and workshops.

The first event, took place on the first day of opening the exhibition, was about the EU charter of fundamental rights and a workshop about r epressive u rbanism. Here Maria and Vio from FEM Kolectiva, along with Sara and Maroua from Metropolis Podcast did a talk sbout how the public space in our city and neighborhoods affects our daily lives from a fundamental rights perspective.

On the second day, the event was quite different. Doing the previous months the artist behind the art piece Citizens Rights, Sara Jansen, from Barcelona, had done a workshop with a local school on art and fundamental rights. The sixth grade students from Cal Maiol school have been working on EU’s Charter of fundamental rights and artistic representation for some weeks.

Through our this process the kids had to co design the pictures and agreeing upon what they used of interpretation and methods . It was a difficult exercise , as they kids express, because they had to negotiate and be ready to go on compromise. But all the kids, and the entire school had an amazing experience in doing this work.

2023 exhibitions

warsaw

The event took place on 26 September 2023, in the centre of Warsaw, at the Dreamers & Craftmen conference centre, House of Social Innovation. This venue was specifically chosen as the location of the event, as it hosts many events like trainings, conferences, workshops, exhibitions and more, organized by local NGOs.

Since 2015, public authorities' compliance with the norms and provisions of the constitution and the rule of law has been deteriorating significantly. At the Institute of Public Affairs, we have undertaken numerous activities during this period to halt and reverse these negative trends, cooperating with other civic organisations at home and abroad. In order to strengthen and better coordinate our activities in this regard, we reactivated the Centre for Constitutionalism and Legal Culture. The task of the CKiKP is to undertake activities in the field of knowledge exchange, joint creation of solutions and preparation of civil society to work on the reconstruction of the rule of law in Poland.

During the meeting, we showed the exhibition of works by artists from various European countries, who we have asked to creatively depict the provisions of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. The exhibition, as well as the project 'ChARTer - Explore the Charter of Fundamental Rights through Art', is another example of IPA’s commitment to civic education in the area of democracy and the rule of law. The Ukrainian artist of the Justice artwork, Nadia Mir, also attended the event. We discussed the challenges for effective civic education in times of a crisis of social trust, progressive degradation of public institutions and growing social polarisation with representatives of Polish and foreign non-governmental organisations who are looking for ways to reach an ever-wider audience on a daily basis.

We discussed the challenges for effective civic education in times of a crisis of social trust, progressive degradation of public institutions and growing social polarisation with representatives of Polish and foreign non-governmental organisations who are looking for ways to reach an ever-wider audience on a daily basis.

athens

The Art of Fundamental Rights exhibition was hosted next to Organization Earth premises, at the "Antonis Tritsis" Metropolitan Park of Environmental and Educational Activities and Social Economy Development in western Metropolitan Athens. It is the largest Metropolitan Park of Athens and a popular destination for the residents of Athens, with an average of 15,000-16,000 visitors on weekends and even more on holidays or major events.

We had an open discussion in the exhibition with two of the participant artists: Sara Jansen who participated with the artwork “Citizens’ Rights” and Lester Gradiz who participated with the artwork “Solidarity”. Both artists discussed with visitors about the concepts of their paintings, the inspiration and the ideas behind their artworks. Lester Gradiz presented the concept of solidarity in a very moving way by describing his personal story of moving to Europe-Greece from Nicaragua due to the political situation in his home country. In this way, he gave a first-hand approach of the importance of fundamental human rights.

denmark

The events in Denmark took place in three Folk High Schools, Vrå (Region of Northern Denmark), Ollerup (Region of Southern Denmark), and Krogerup (Region Zealand). The events consisted of a talk on the Charter of Fundamental Rights mixed with workshops and quizzes to involve the target group, which was mainly young European students and locals, who were not already engaged in the field.

Therefore, the talk and the workshops sought to engage the participants in a way that highlights how the Charter of Fundamental Rights relate to the participants and their own lives. By using the Art of Fundamental Rights project and the posters as a medium to enter the conversation, we were able to reach and engage an audience who are ordinarily not engaged in the rights agenda.

The talk on the Charter of Fundamental Rights highlighted how important rights are to create healthy societies and meaningful lives, but also how different fundamental rights are interpreted throughout Europe today and historically. In addition, we talked about the importance of continuously fighting for your rights and making your voice heard on these matters, because rights are not something that is won once and for all, but something that we need to keep fighting for.

cologne

The chARTer event in Cologne took place at the Europe Dome during the Pride Street Festival and the official Christopher Street-Day demonstration with the aim to bring citizens attention to discussing and interacting with the artwork and consequently the Charter of Fundamental Rights. The event included the exhibition of the artwork, engaging with citizens over the respective chapters, one workshop on LGBTQI+ and human rights in Tunisia and the consequences for Europe, one workshop on human rights and the current situation in the Ukraine, participating and presenting the artwork during the demonstration and overall communication, co- and networking of the partners from Denmark, Greece, Belgium, Spain, and Germany. The workshops were led by experts and activists from the respective regions in collaboration with team members of Democracy International.

previous exhibitions

barcelona

A lo largo del tiempo, el arte ha creado educación democrática en personas de todas las edades. El arte es una forma de comunicación que ayuda a difundir y reforzar el conocimiento general sobre las tendencias actuales de nuestra sociedad. El propósito es que las obras inspiren a un público amplio a interactuar en el debate sobre nuestros derechos fundamentales.

Con el Arte de los Derechos Fundamentales queremos concenciar sobre nuestros derechos humanos fundamentales a través del arte, porque continúan siendo atacados en varios países. En todo el mundo, incluso en Europa, estamos viendo como regímenes autoritarios ejercen poder sobre grupos minoritarios y grupos vulnerables.

El Arte de los Derechos Fundamentales incluye siete obras de arte realizadas por artistas profesionales de toda Europa, cada una de las cuales interpreta la Carta de los Derechos Fundamentales de la Unión Europea a través de diferentes formas artísticas. Las obras de arte son de alta calidad profesional y están realizadas por artistas consolidados y emergentes, cada una utilizando diferentes materiales y formas de expresión.

La exposición ofrece muchas formas de arte diferentes y abarca una amplia gama de conocimientos dentro de las artes visuales. Cada una de las obras individuales es una interpretación artística personal de un derecho fundamental que puede inspirar al espectador a relacionarse e interpretar más a fondo el derecho fundamental particular. Por lo tanto, todas las obras se pueden ver independiente y son en sí mismas una experiencia tanto artística como intelectual. Todas las obras de arte tienen en común que son de alta calidad artística y que refuerzan los mensajes y valores importantes sobre los que se construye la carta de los Derechos Fundamentales de la Unión Europea.

folkemødet 2022

bornholm

Formålet er, at kunstværkerne i Art of Fundamental Rights vil inspirere en bred offentlighed til at interagere i debatten om vores fælles fundamentale rettigheder, som fortsat er under angreb i flere lande. Udviklingen ser vi over hele verden, også i Europa, hvor autoritære regimer udøver magt overfor minoriteter og sårbare grupper.

Projektet består af syv kunstværker fra professionelle kunstnere fra hele Europa, der hver især fortolker EU's charter for grundlæggende rettigheder gennem forskellige kunstarter. Kunstværkerne er af høj professionel kvalitet og bliver udført af både etablerede og spirende kunstnere, der hver benytter forskellige materialer, kunst- og udtryksformer.

Kunst har gennem tiden skabt demokratisk dannelse hos mennesker af alle aldre, fordi det er en formidlingsform, der bidrager til at udbrede og forstærke den almene viden om aktuelle tendenser i vores samfund.

lisboa

Ao longo do tempo, a arte contribuiu para a formação democrática de pessoas de todas as idades, pois é uma forma de comunicação que permite difundir e reforçar o conhecimento geral sobre as tendências da sociedade. Pretende-se que o trabalho artístico leve um público alargado a participar no debate sobre os nossos direitos fundamentais comuns.

Com a exposição Art of Fundamental Rights, pretendemos chamar a atenção, através da arte, para os nossos direitos humanos fundamentais, que estão sob uma ameaça contínua em diversos países. Assistimos a estes desenvolvimentos em todo o mundo, e inclusive na Europa, onde regimes autoritários exercem o seu poder sobre minorias e grupos vulneráveis.

A exposição Art of Fundamental Rights é composta por sete obras de artistas profissionais de toda a Europa, cada uma delas interpretando a Carta dos Direitos Fundamentais da UE através de diferentes formas de expressão artística.

copenhagen

florence

Nel corso del tempo, l'arte ha fornito un'educazione
democratica alle persone di tutte le età, perché è una forma di comunicazione che aiuta a diffondere e rafforzare la conoscenza generale sulle tendenze attuali della nostra società. L'obiettivo è che l'opera d'arte ispiri un vasto pubblico ad interagire nel dibattito sui nostri diritti fondamentali.

Con l'Arte dei Diritti Fondamentali, vogliamo sensibilizzare l'opinione pubblica sui nostri diritti umani fondamentali attraverso l'arte, perché continuano ad essere attaccati in diversi Paesi. Assistiamo a questi sviluppi in tutto il mondo, anche in Europa, dove i regimi autoritari esercitano il loro potere sulle minoranze e sui gruppi vulnerabili.

L'Arte dei diritti fondamentali consiste in sette opere d'arte realizzate da artisti professionisti di tutta Europa, ognuno dei quali interpreta la Carta dei diritti fondamentali dell'UE attraverso diverse forme d'arte.

brussels

The exhibition is taking place in the big windows of the Philanthropy House in Rue de Royal in Brussels. The artwork is installed in the large windows towards the street, so everyone who walks by can see the exhibition. This makes the installment very inclusive for everyone to participate, stop and reflect.

All the pieces have been modified into large posters so it fits with the magnitude of the windows. During the opening vernissage we had speeches from the chair of Nyt Europa Lone Loklindt, the Directorate-General for Communication at the European Commission, Pia Arhenkilde Hansen and a youth activist from Hungary Maria Stark to talk about the charter of fundamental rights and the current situation in Europe.

REPORT FROM THE ART OF FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS EXHIBITIONS