"Shattered Dreams" art Project

In a world marked by conflict and violence, my art project "Shattered Dreams – A Reminder Against Arms Deliveries" stands as a powerful statement against escalation and for peace. This project aims to illustrate the devastating effects of violence and weapons on art and our culture, evoking a strong emotional response.

The Why

In my work and through my background, I am interested in cultures, stories, and the people behind them. On my travels in Africa, Papua, South America, India, etc., I have repeatedly found that there is no black and white but many shades of gray in the narratives, and the first thing that dies is the truth, or many events are simply ignored to prevent one's world from falling apart. I have also learned that it is always about interests, and moral reasons or noble intentions are used as justification.

My motivation has always been to achieve a bit more fairness and justice. One could describe it as an effort against the wind or swimming upstream. These efforts have often set me back in my goals because people have interests, and regardless of whether I like something, approve or disapprove of it, I must accept other opinions in a democracy and should also listen to them. Especially since Corona, I notice that fronts are hardening, people are talking less with each other, there is a "cancel culture" and devaluation if the other person holds a different opinion than one's own. Questioning why and how to possibly gain new insights is becoming less common, as one believes to hold the highest moral and ethical opinion, usually confirmed by one's environment.

Is it due to one's own overwhelm or the problems each individual faces, I wonder? Where is the curiosity? I see it as my task as an artist to draw attention to these issues, to rekindle curiosity, even if it puts me more on the sidelines again. I take a stand, take responsibility, and speak out against arms deliveries to Ukraine, Israel, or other countries! I live in Switzerland because its neutrality is actually its strength, even though recently neutrality has taken a slight hit. I try to contribute to reflection in my small sphere of influence.

The Idea

I want to showcase approximately 20 artworks and demonstrate the destructive effects of weapons on these works in an impressive staging. The various effects of weapons on artworks/objects should be visible, and I want to document the individual stages of destruction. Each stage of destruction symbolizes destroyed lives, lost dreams, and escalating violence in our world. These artworks represent people, their dreams, families, and emotions. By destroying these works, I aim to illustrate that more arms deliveries do not lead to peace but to more suffering, death, and a spiral of destruction and hatred. The project should touch emotionally, arouse curiosity, see the other with love, and evoke compassion.

The Execution

The artworks should be presented in a public exhibition showing different stages of destruction. The viewer can witness the shocking decay of the works, from the intact originals to the completely destroyed remnants through violence. This visual and emotional experience aims to make people think and foster a deeper engagement with the topics of violence, escalation, and peace.

The Message

With "Shattered Dreams," I want to send a strong message against the escalation of violence and for the need for peace and understanding. The destruction of these works symbolizes the destruction of human lives, culture, and societies through violence and war. This project aims to raise awareness and encourage people to think about the consequences of arms deliveries and violence. As a society, we should ask ourselves whether we bear responsibility or look away. In the name of peace, we have already wiped out many of our kind throughout history, always with the best intentions. In the present, we then have the best moral reasons for history. Can't we do better in the present, haven't we learned, are we as far as a human family as we were thousands of years ago? The shattered dreams I will show have not only material but also deep emotional value.

Your Support

To realize this profound and, in my eyes, significant project, I need your support. The sponsorship budget is 150,000 CHF to cover the implementation, material costs, exhibition preparation, and necessary infrastructure, to name just a few points. I am looking for companies, foundations, entrepreneurs, etc., who speak out against escalation and want to make a statement. Your support is more than just financial help – it is a strong statement for peace, dialogue, and against violence. Imagine how your participation in this project not only saves these artworks but also initiates a broad societal debate. Your support will make it possible to create the infrastructure needed to conduct this event and reach a broad audience.

Your role as a sponsor is invaluable to me. You stand as a strong partner at the heart of this project and can use the media attention to associate your brand with a significant social issue. Your support demonstrates your commitment to culture, peace, and Swiss values.

Emotional Significance

Your support for this project means that you are actively working against the escalation of violence, war, and for dialogue. You help send a strong and emotional message that has the potential to reach our society, encourage reflection, and self-reflection. Through your help, we can remind people that peace and democracy are fragile and that violence can never be the solution. Together, we can show that every destroyed artwork is a symbol of a lost life and lost dreams – and that we as a society bear responsibility. The winners in a system must help the losers in the system, or we all lose as a society.

Goal and Benefits for Sponsors

The goal of this project is not to save artworks but to think to the end of the chain. If it can save just one life from mutilation, death, or mental harm that stays in families for generations, then it was a super successful art project. I see it as my task to confront the media and the public with this topic of escalation. Bringing it into our orderly world, where we often get annoyed by trivial things because having a roof over our heads, food on the table, and fresh clothes in the closet is taken for granted, I find important for us as a society because war and peace are not far apart.

Drawing attention to war and what it does to families over generations is a topic we should approach with more sensitivity and care and be reminded of the dialogue.

In my family, my grandfather was shot in front of my father's eyes in Peru over a bicycle. This had an impact on my father's entire life, and in turn, on my life. Likewise, the German side of my family, my grandmother was an expellee from the Sudetenland.