Europa

The installation “Trichter” (Funnel), from April 26 to May 4, 2003, is a response to human rights violations that have repeatedly occurred in Germany as well. The inspiration came from a press report about the death of a dealer from Cameroon on February 12, 2002, in Hamburg, following the forcible administration of emetics through a stomach tube – only one of many cases that became known.

It is easy to talk about the observance of human rights elsewhere – the West criticizes Russia, Americans criticize Arabs, the Chinese criticize the Japanese, the Japanese criticize the Koreans, and Arabs criticize the West; white people criticize Black people, Black people criticize white people, white people criticize white people, and so on. The installation is intended to encourage reflection on the human rights situation in one’s own country.

The viewer is confronted with a “landscape” consisting of various “islands.” These “islands” are large wooden boxes that were originally used to transport money. Hundreds of empty bottles stand on them, each fitted with a funnel.

The bottles symbolize the countless people who have died without being able to exercise their rights or whose human dignity has been violated. The funnels are intended to question the observance of human rights in Germany.

Human Rights: A Precious Good.

On the Human Rights Situation in Germany

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