Unknown Numbers
In cooperation with Johannes Høie
UNKNOWN NUMBERS
Unknown Numbers, 2016
Installation: Outdoor mural/ Wall Painting, 60m/length, 4m/height
Installation views: outside the Nobel Peace Center, Oslo
In cooperation with: Johannes Høie
Unknown Numbers, 2016
Installation: Outdoor mural/ Wall Painting, 60m/length, 4m/height
Installation views: outside the Nobel Peace Center, Oslo
In cooperation with: Johannes Høie
Voting rights and the fight for freedom of expression are the inspirational themes behind the Unknown Numbers, a large temporary intervention by Johannes Høie and Shwan Dler Qaradaki on the Peace Wall outside the Nobel Prize Center in Oslo. With a selection of drawn portraits of human rights advocates and political prisoners from around the world (such as Carl von Ossietzky, Tahir Elci, Ayat al-Qurmezi, Mordechai Vanunu, Adnan Hassanpour and Nelson Mandela), it aspires to raising more consciousness and spreading wider knowledge about the histories of individuals who have spent their lives fighting for rights that are often take for granted in Norway, while allowing public critique against injustice and oppression.
The idea came from the story of Carl von Ossietzky, the winner of the 1935 Nobel Peace Prize. Ossietzky was also featured in an exhibition inside the Nobel Peace Centre during the same period that the construction of the outside mural was taking place. Located in the vicinity of the city hall, a large audience had direct access to the work and the message it conveys, serving as an open invitation to passersby to think about and debate the idea of political art in public spaces, and the role it plays in thematizing our fundamental values.
The idea came from the story of Carl von Ossietzky, the winner of the 1935 Nobel Peace Prize. Ossietzky was also featured in an exhibition inside the Nobel Peace Centre during the same period that the construction of the outside mural was taking place. Located in the vicinity of the city hall, a large audience had direct access to the work and the message it conveys, serving as an open invitation to passersby to think about and debate the idea of political art in public spaces, and the role it plays in thematizing our fundamental values.