Olafur Eliasson gives a Green Light to refugees
Find out how the artist's Viennese project helps new arrivals settle in, and create some beautiful lamps too
Green Light is a $336 (£237, €300) medium-sized geometric lamp made from wood, recycled plastic, nylon and LEDs. Aesthetically, it would make a fine addition to any modern home.
However, the real beauty of Green Light lies in the making. The lamp has been designed by the Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson, and is being assembled by young refugees, as well as members of the public and local students.
This is no simple furnishings workshop. The three-month long programme, staged at the TBA21 contemporary art foundation in Vienna, sees the workers enrolled in a programme of talks and workshops, on everything from art to citizenship, solidarity to empowerment, all in the hope, that, the project will ease these recent arrivals’ settlement.
“It is my hope that Green light will shine light on some of the challenges and responsibilities arising from the current refugee crisis in Europe and throughout the world,” Eliasson said. Green light is an act of welcoming, addressed both to those who have fled hardship and instability in their home countries and to the residents of Vienna.”
