Eurolab | Votetogether
4-day workshop organized with Rem Koolhaas and Wolfgang Tillmans with 50 creatives and experts to create proposals to improve the communication the European Union at the Forum on European Culture organized by De Balie and Dutchculture that resulted in votetogether, a platform to support voter turnout to (EU) elections.
2018-2019
“More than 400 proposals from 43 countries poured in. A German fashion designer had an idea for a unisex jacket that would serve as a ticket for public transportation in all 28 member states. A dance troupe with members from Albania, France and Italy proposed filming folk dances at European historical sites that could then be broadcast or viewed with virtual reality goggles. A musician from Hungary proposed a new anthem, and dozens of artists sent sketches for new European Union flags and designs for new euro bills and coins.” — The New York Times
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Eurolab, Amsterdam; an experimental testing ground to explore alternative ways to communicate about the European Union. Photo by Skylarr Stream Photography
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More than 50 artists and collectives from across the EU joined to address the iconographic deficit that continues to haunt the European Union. Photo by Skylarr Stream Photography
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The ambition was to develop a media campaign for the 2019 European Elections, and denting the curve of gradual decline of voter turnout. Photo by Skylarr Stream Photography
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Eurolab’s group portrait in 2018. In the months that followed the initial workshop smaller teams continued developing ideas and dissemination strategies which eventually led to create votetogether.eu. Photo by Jan Boeve
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Votegother celebrated and celebrate a wide range of contributions including poster campaign in collaboration with local museums in Europe, photo shoots of important cultural protagonists wearing election t-shirts, and infographics that focus on what the EU does. While we can’t claim success, there was an increase in voter turnout at the 2019 elections…
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In the run-up to the European elections in May 2019 artists, writers and creatives who feel passionate about the European project came together during the Forum on European Culture in Amsterdam from May 31- June 3. During the 4-day Eurolab, they examine what has gone wrong in the communication of, and about the EU and how to make a new and powerful beginning.In an increasingly interconnected world voices that create division between people and peoples, have gathered momentum and try to unravel the achievements of cooperation and solidarity.
Europeans in particular are challenged by nationalist and divisive language from outside and from within the EU.Eurolab was a fact-finding mission of what went well and what went wrong in the last 25 years of communicating Europe. In workshops and interview sessions we aim to compile a comprehensive toolbox of arguments, strategies, and ideas that can be applied to campaigns across different demographics and used by different professional groups (e.g. ‘Teachers for Europe’ ‘Scientists for Europe’ ‘Farmers for Europe’).
Eurolab collected these ideas about how cooperation and solidarity can be spoken for in a fresh and compelling way to large audiences. How can the European Union be valued by its citizens and be recognized as a force for good, rather than as a faceless bureaucracy?We understand that the EU is not perfect and that some of its problems are of its own making. However we are convinced that today’s Europe is the best there ever was, and that the European Project should be protected in these unstable times.
Results of the initial workshop and subsequent work can be explored on votetogether.eu
Initiated by Rem Koolhaas, Wolfgang Tillmans, and Stephan Petermann with the support of Anne-Marijn Epker (De Balie), Yoeri Albrecht (De Balie), Shahin Zarinbal, Alison Midgley,Paul Hutchinson, Joeri Jansen, Ilias en Jason Halbgewachts, and many many others.
Made possible by Buildingbridges, Dutchculture, and De Balie