Olafur Eliasson at the 67th Berlin International FIlm Festival in 2017 © Maximilian Bühn
The German government has commissioned the Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson to create a "pan-European work of art" in connection with the upcoming German presidency of the European Union council during the second half of 2020.
The German foreign minister Heiko Maas says that Eliassons engagement with democracy, nature and climate change “has hit a nerve in our societies”, making him “exactly the right choice for fostering the idea of Europe through artistic and creative thinking”. The project will receive support from the Goethe Institute according to a statement released by the German Foreign Office.
The artist, whose studio is based in Berlin, says his project for the EU presidency “is aimed at children and young people and will be developed and designed with their participation”. He adds that “for young people today it is clear that our present and our actions need to be guided by our vision for the future”.
Eliassons work is currently on show in a major solo exhibition at London's Tate Modern. He was also recently appointed a Goodwill Ambassador by the United Nations Development PRead More – Source
