After touring around Europe, the Disappearing Wall Art installation was unveiled in the Citizens’ Garden of the European Parliament. Disappearing Wall is an interactive art installation consisting of dozens of wooden blocks. The artwork consists of a plexiglass wall made up of 6,000 quotes from European highbrow and popular culture printed on wooden blocks. Visitors are invited to take their favourite quote home with them as a souvenir, so that all that remains is the transparent frame and the wall disappears.
The opening event was held on 24th June in the presence of Vice-President of the European Parliament Katarina Barley MEP, the Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to the Kingdom of Belgium Martin Kotthaus, the Director of the Goethe-Institut Brussels Dr Elke Kaschl Mohni and the Mayor of the Municipality of Ixelles Christos Doulkeridis.
Whether a thought by Hannah Arendt, a line from the film “The Fabulous World of Amélie Poulain” or aphorisms by Camus, Goethe, Kertész, Pessoa or Václav Havel, the selection of quotations for the installation, which were collected at the beginning of 2020 in Europe-wide local competitions initiated by the Goethe-Institut, is diverse. Engraved on the wooden blocks in the original language and in translation, the quotes form the core elements of the installation. One of them is also a very topical quote from the well-known Belgian writer Rachida Lamrabet: “I do hope that, as one of the consequences of this crisis, we will awake as thinking beings.”
Visitors have the opportunity to read the quotations and take a quotation block with them throughout the summer, while observing the sanitary measures. As more and more people take the blocks, the installation will empty gradually until the wall completely disappears.
This interactive art installation is an initiative of the Goethe-Institut Brüssel, co-organised with the European Parliament and supported by the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany to the Kingdom of Belgium. The installation will remain freely accessible throughout the summer in the Citizens’ Garden until the “wall” has disappeared and all the quotation blocks have been removed. Citizens’ Garden is located in the grounds of the former residence and studio of the 19th century artist Antoine Wiertz, just 100 metres from the European Parliament’s official entrance. The garden opened to the public for the first time in September 2020 thanks to investment and renovation by the European Parliament.
25 June 2021 to July/August 2021 – 08:00 am to 8:50 pm.
More info about the Disappearing Wall: http://eptwitter.eu/DisappearingWall
