WE:deutschland: A Human Atlas
As we leave the early 21st century and head towards the 2020’s I am increasingly drawn to the importance of community. Our need to belong is poorly served by the paucity of vision proposed by those that call for walls and borders: their attempts to solve the big issues of our time through division prays on fear of the other & our worst instincts. However, the fact that some sections of our societies are deeply divided reinforces the need for bold leadership. We require ideas and people that combine the values of open society, with the social aspirations of a just new deal between the citizen and those that hold power and assets.
In Europe the backdrop to these realities is a time of rapid technical advance through communication technologies, artificial intelligence and ageing populations. Thus we need to co-author the future through social innovation; imagining and sculpting spaces where we belong to more than our small tribes. We will increasingly rely on a generation of social change agents who are brave enough to build disruptive ways to answer today’s big challenges.
WE: deutschland grew out of a dialogue, with Allan and Per of momondo, that searched to build a art/science project that would create a space where powerful conversations about the need for a more open society and a diverse future could be imagined.
Through their guidance and the funding support of the momondo Open World Projects it has been possible to undertake a deep-dive art project to curate and create an atlas of German social change agents. Over a 5 month period, my team at The Glassworks and I built a powerful nomination process to unlock a cohort of 53 remarkable individuals across German society and then travel to photograph, listen to and genetically map them. The results of this process are laid out in the following pages: I trust they will inspire you to ask deeper questions about our roles in building a more equitable and purposeful future for the next generations.
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