6th December 2013.
- ArtRole, in collaboration with the Goethe Institut of Irak, developed an exchange art project “Save Your Environment” between Germany and Iraqi Kurdistan – an environmental project for public awareness. Six German and Kurdish Iraqi designers work has been selected.
- Art instead of plastic
The Iraqi public space lacks art, but it is dominated by waste and garbage, which is either burnt or blown away by the wind, distorting and polluting the landscape. The project aimed to make a small difference in both cases.
The project, on the one hand, occurs within the context of a major topic and issue in the region, the environment, and, via active involvement, not only draws society’s attention to the issue of environmental abuse but also directly participates in its improvement. The other approach focusses on art that is transferred to public space in a basic and organised manner.
The means of transportation should be plastic bags, which are very popular in Germany and appear as a product of the lifestyle and are designed by German designers and are sold in the markets at prices between 20 and 80 euros. If one looks at the Internet, one sees that the design opportunities (bags for shopping-bags for rubbish) are unlimited, and when one looks at the production costs, one concludes that their costs reach 1 euro if they are produced in Germany and of high quality.
The designs will be created by Iraqi and German artists, with each team comprising of five members who presented models with appealing designs that express their creativity and vision. The idea is that one side of the bag is for the artist, while the other side is for the small environmental statement in three languages. Since there are 10 models and topics, it is natural that 10 different phrases or sentences were created. For example, only in Iraqi Kurdistan are 2 billion nylon bags used and thrown away every year. Or: A plastic bag takes 500 years to decompose and no longer negatively affects the environment.
The phrases printed on the bags are educational, purposeful, useful, and far from inappropriate, so that people’s curiosity makes them attracted to reading them. For example, the warnings on cigarette packs often make people want to read them just because the phrase is unfamiliar or unknown to them before.
In addition to this, the slogans are printed in German, Arabic, Kurdish, and English. The German slogan “Kunst sttat Kunststoff” (Art instead of plastic). By distributing the languages on the bags, the uniqueness of the models is highlighted, and the desire to use the bags increases more. The bags were distributed free of charge in selected places, especially cafes whose visitors are characterised by a western style and who not only consider this type of bag to be known in Europe but also show it as a new fashion. And through libraries and public shops that provide such bags permanently to their customers. According to statistics, each person in the Middle East consumes 500 nylon bags annually. With the distribution of 2,000 bags, one million nylon bags can be saved per year. In return, 2,000 works of art become available.
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