FRORIEP
Rue Charles-Bonnet 4 | 1206 Geneva
15 November 2018
Throughout history, people have used the arts to reflect on their lives and what they observe, to awaken awareness. Today more than ever, the arts enriche our understanding of the world and question current events. By offering a space for debate and reflection, the arts make it possible to express the fears and frustrations of a society. At a time when demagoguery, intolerance and prejudice are transforming the current media and political landscape, how can the arts offer landmarks to guide us through these troubled waters? As a catalyst for change, the arts have the power to reinvent the ideas of tolerance, inclusion and solidarity, fundamental principles on which our society is based.
To discuss these issues, we will have the privilege to welcome the Chinese artist Liu Bolin and Keyvan Ghavami, Executive Director, Act On Your Future Foundation.
Liu Bolin was born in 1973 in Shandong, China and studied sculpture at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing, graduating with an MFA in 2001. Better known as “The Invisible Man” in media circles, he discusses the social concerns of his home country through his artistic practice, most prominently through his ‘camouflage’ installations. Through mediums such as performance, photography, Liu Bolin dissects the tense relationship between the individual and society by ‘disappearing’ into environments which are sites of contention and criticism. His “Hiding in the City” series has been displayed in numerous museums and institutions across the globe. Inspired by his powerful visual messages, artists and institutions and organisations such The Louvre (Paris, France), Harper’s Bazaar Magazine, Centre Pompidou, Ruinart, Moncler, Fred, Renault, JR, Carlos Cruz-Diez, Jon Bon Jovi, Kenny Scharf etc. have invited Liu Bolin to collaborate on creative projects. Liu Bolin currently lives and works in Beijing. The artist has currently his first retrospective museum exhibition in Switzerland at Musée de l’Elysée in Lausanne until 27 January 2018.
Keyvan Ghavami is Executive Director and Co-founder of Act On Your Future, a Swiss non-profit foundation based in Geneva that works to strengthen and foster civic engagement among the next generation of socially active youth. Through education and cultural exchange, the foundation serves as a bridge and builds synergies that transform the way the next generation learns about human rights and engages in social causes. One of its central projects is the Human Rights Photography Price awarded annually in Geneva. The foundation strongly believes that the visual arts are an invaluable mean of communication to engage younger peers in human rights.