Antarctica World Passport | Delivery Bureau
01 June 2012 - 09 September 2012
Festival of the World, Southbank Centre, Festival - New Commission
UK
As part of London's Festival of the World, thousands of visitors are arriving this summer at The Southbank Centre to join Lucy + Jorge Orta's Antarctica World Passport Delivery Bureau and to become global citizens.
The Antarctica World Passport Delivery Bureau, a huge labyrinth installation of reclaimed materials will issue 30,000 facsimile passport documents to the festival visitors aspiring to become a citizen of the new Antarctica world community. The applicants will join the tens of thousands of citizens who have already received an individual passport, an original artwork to be treasured and passed on the future generations as a testament to how art can change lives and what it means to be a citizen of the world.
The Antarctic Treaty signed in 1959 states that Antarctica is a common territory dedicated to cultural and scientific cooperation and all military activity is banned. Antarctica exemplifies a community that strives for peace and social progress. Originally commissioned by The End of the World Biennale, Usuahia Argentina, Lucy + Jorge Orta's Antarctica body of work developed from an expedition and installation conducted in Antarctica in 2007.
The Antarctica body of work has been touring the world. Of particular significance most recently are the two Festival of the World installations at the Southbank Centre—on the Festival Hall roof are raised 44 impressive flags that indicate the presence of the passport public engagement project inside the gallery. Antarctica is also the topic of two monograph publications and will be the subject of a installation in the Shanghai Biennale (Oct 2012) and a US tour from 2012-2015 as well as a major retrospective at Park de la Villette in Paris (2013-2014).
The Antarctica World Passport Delivery Bureau, a huge labyrinth installation of reclaimed materials will issue 30,000 facsimile passport documents to the festival visitors aspiring to become a citizen of the new Antarctica world community. The applicants will join the tens of thousands of citizens who have already received an individual passport, an original artwork to be treasured and passed on the future generations as a testament to how art can change lives and what it means to be a citizen of the world.
The Antarctic Treaty signed in 1959 states that Antarctica is a common territory dedicated to cultural and scientific cooperation and all military activity is banned. Antarctica exemplifies a community that strives for peace and social progress. Originally commissioned by The End of the World Biennale, Usuahia Argentina, Lucy + Jorge Orta's Antarctica body of work developed from an expedition and installation conducted in Antarctica in 2007.
The Antarctica body of work has been touring the world. Of particular significance most recently are the two Festival of the World installations at the Southbank Centre—on the Festival Hall roof are raised 44 impressive flags that indicate the presence of the passport public engagement project inside the gallery. Antarctica is also the topic of two monograph publications and will be the subject of a installation in the Shanghai Biennale (Oct 2012) and a US tour from 2012-2015 as well as a major retrospective at Park de la Villette in Paris (2013-2014).