Artwork
Antarctica World Passport, Delivery Bureau Southbank Centre
Lucy + Jorge Orta, 2012
- Ref: 5077
- Materials: Bureau construction in various materials, chairs, red cross crates, various objects, ed. 30,000 Antarctica World Passprts, passport stamps, ink pads
- Dimensions: variable
- Exhibition history: 2012 Southbank Centre London| Festival of the World, UK
- Courtesy: Courtesy of the Artists
- Concept: The Antarctic Treaty signed in 1959 states that this sixth continent is a common territory, open to all peaceful peoples and to cultural and scientific cooperation. The Antarctica World Passports imagined by Lucy + Jorge Orta is a proposal for a new world community. It is a document that recognises the inherent dignity of every member of the human race and their equal and inalienable rights, which constitute the basis of liberty, justice and peace in the world. The Antarctica World Passport proposes an amendment to Article 13 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights - Art. 13 :3 “Every human being has the right to move freely and cross frontiers to their chosen territory. Individuals should not be deemed of an inferior status to that of capital, trade, telecommunication and pollution, all of which have no boundaries. The passports are distributed during exhibitions or conferences to persons wishing to become a citizen and form part of an online database developed by MIT. On deliverance the passport requests in return that each new citizen dedicate him or herself to combat all acts of barbarity, to fight against intimidation and poverty, to support social progress, to protect the environment and endangered species, to safeguard human dignity and to defend the inalienable rights to liberty, justice and peace in the world.
The artists’ Antarctica World Passport Delivery Bureau, a huge labyrinth installation of reclaimed materials inside the Southbank’s Spirit Level Gallery, will issue 30,000 facsimile passport documents to the festival visitors aspiring to become a citizen of the new Antarctica world community. The applicants will join the tens of thousands of citizens who have already received an individual passport, an original artwork to be treasured and passed on the future generations as a testament to share common ideals.
