Places of „Weltkinder“

Köln/Cologne – Daugavpils LATVIA – Kaunas LITHUANIA – Cluj-Napoca ROMANIA –
Tel Aviv ISRAEL – Bethlehem PALESTINE

„Childen of the world“

A project from Helga Hartje and Sylvia Strubelt

Mental occupation with contemporary art provides the possibility of the determination of your own standpoint and self-reflection, independent of nationality, language, politics, religion, or education.

Young people in a phase of transition between childhood and adulthood feel a particularly strong need to find their own position in their perception of the world.

As has been shown during the first presentation of the project with 23 young people from 12 nations living here in Cologne, they are willing and in a postion – quite contrary to current opinions – to open their minds sensitively to contemporary art, to reflect upon it in written form, and thus, sumulttaniously, to reeale their view of reality.

Moreover, this occupation allowed them to express wishes and hopes for their own lives and for the state of the world – wishes that may very well be understood as criticism of what has been inherited from the past.

With young people from various countries, languages and cultures meeting with the same examples of contemporary art, with documentary theur own access to them, with getting to know and presenting the translations of their fellow youths, it can be concluded that their visions for the future do not differ all that much, that what they share far outweighs what seperates them.

It is to be desired that the wish for contact should spring from this recognition.

Intentions of the project „children of the world“

Preparing an exposition with the paintings of Helga Hartje, with the photos of young people from as many twin-cities as possible, and with texts produced by these young people.
Preparing a video from the documentations of the single presentations.
Presentation of both the exposition and the video in Cologne (e.g. „Stadtmuseum“) and twin-cities.
Installation of the exposition of paintings, texts and photos in the internet. It is panned to add the internet addresses of the young people concerned (provided they agree). Thus we hope that direct and personal contacts between the young people from the twin-cities may arise.
Furthermore we plan the publication of the project in a printed documentation.

Jugendliche des internationalen Projektes betrachten ein Gemälde von Helga Hartje und schreiben ihre Gedanken und Gefühle dazu.