HOPE IS MAYBE
ART PROJECT ON THE DIVERSITY OF HOPE
HOPE IS MAYBE is an art project on the diversity of hope. HOPE is hardly to be defined. What do we HOPE for? Does HOPE depend on the country of origin? Our language? Our education? Our faith? Our personal emotions? HOPE IS MAYBE.
Michael Haerteis at COLLABORATIVE CREATIVITY has initiated this public art project in collaboration with Jesuit Refugee Service in Munich. HOPE IS MAYBE is further support through Misereor Aachen. Based on interviews with asylum seekers, we collected prominent statements that center around these questions. In a second step, artists were asked to choose a citation from a list, reflect on it, and create or share an artwork. More than 280 artworks, from over 150 artists around the world had been submitted. Our jury members Stephanie Lyakine-Schönweitz (Cultural Department - City of Munich), Larry Kirkland (artist), Silvia Wienefoet (artist), Mahbuba Maqsoodi (artist), and Dieter Müller (Jesuit Refugee Service in Munich) selected 75 works of art to form the exhibition here at the airport. Afterwards the exhibition will travel and can be seen at the Jesuits’ Refugee Camp in Munich.
The intention behind the exhibition is to help improve political awareness on contemporary issues such as diversity, migration, integration of refugees, to embed those into an artistic context, and to start a discussion on social values.
Many thanks to all involved artists:
Alex Kamweru, Nairobi, Kenya; Alwina Heinz, Neuss, Germany; Ana Sladetic, Samobor, Croatia; Anja Struck, Lüneburg, Germany; Anna Frydman, München, Germany; Athanasios Aléxo, Milan, Italy; Barbara Steinman, Montréal (Québec), Canada; Béatrice Lebreton, New York, USA; Beverly Ress, Silver Spring, MD, USA; Birgit Hefter, Immenstadt, Germany; Birgit Lochmann, Corrandulla / Galway, Ireland; Camilla Luihn, Oslo, Norway; Carolina Pinzon Rivera, Bogota, Columbia; Christine Renner, Neubiberg, Germany; Christou Christos, Nicosia, Cyprus; Cornelia Rapp, Denklingen, Germany; Eric Mayen, Köln, Germany; Gabriele Stolz, München, Germany; Grace Graupe-Pillard, New York, USA; Hagen Klennert, Berlin, Germany; Holger Hertwig, Bremen, Germany; Ian Kirkpatrick, York, England; Jessica Russo Scherr, Oberursel, Germany; Jo Dunn, Leeds, England; Johannes Gerard, The Hague, Netherlands; Kerstin Römhild, Lohr a. Main, Germany; Kevin Ryan, Wexford Town, County Wexford, Republic of Ireland; Kevo Stero, Maasai Mbili artists collective, Kibera, Nairobi, Kenya; Klaus Fezer, Zerbst/Anhalt, Germany; Kuzana Ogg, Santa Fe, NM, USA; Lara Mouvée, Hofheim, Germany; Maria Mathieu, Bremen, Germany; Maria Mijares, Plainfield, NJ, USA; Marija Kondres, Zagreb, Croatia; Marta Pieregonczuk, London, England; Mary Rouncefield, Bristol, England; Michelle M. Vara, Wilton, NY, USA; Renata Sinclair, Sevenoaks, Kent, England; Rochelle Shicoff, Brooklyn, NY, USA; Ron Moppett, Calgary, Canada; Rosa Quint, München, Germany; Sarawut Chutiwongpeti, Bangkok, Thailand; Shirin Abedinirad, Tehran, Iran; Simone Jimena Rudolphi, Newcastle upon Tyne, England; Sonia Yousefi Azimi, Leeds, England; Susan Plover, Leigh, England; Susanne Pohl, Neuburg, Germany; Tan Chee Hon, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Tanja Fender,München, Germany; Terry Braunstein & Victor Raphael, Long Beach & Los Angeles, CA, USA; Vaiva Kovieraitė-Trumpė, Šiauliai, Lithuania
List of Citations
Group from Eritrea
- Hope is transformation of life.
- Here in Germany, my hope has been more than achieved.
- For us Christian people hope is very important. We are living hope.
- In my opinion desire meets hope.
- Hope is my motivation to move on.
- In my opinion desire and hope are two different things.
- Hope is something I do expect and what I am waiting for.
- The Lord is the creator of everything. However, people wish for their children good health, good education, and good behavior.
- I wish for my child a better life than I have.
- My hope is to learn German, to get a good education, and to find a job.
- My hope is to nourish my wife, my children, and myself independently.
- Everyone has hope on his mind.
- It is our brain which deals with hope in its thoughts.
- I am so grateful that I didn’t die in the dessert or on sea.
Group of women from Afghanistan
- I hope that I could stay here. I wish for my children that they could go to school and would receive a good education.
- I can add something to a wish. Hope is written in the stars.
- We would like to learn German and to find a job.
- 5 years ago, we hoped to live in peace, withour war.
- As a young girl I wanted to become a doctor. I wanted to help other people, but could only visit elementary school. I wanted so much to have a job.
- When I was a child, there already had been war in Afghanistan. Back then, I hoped that soon war would come to an end. I cannot forget my memories about war.
- I wanted to visit school, but it was not possible.
- I hope for my family that Afghanistan would come to a rest. I don’t want that all others to have to come to Germany. In Afghanistan one should live in peace.
- I wish for myself to educate my children well.
- I would like to open my own business as I am a hairdresser.
- I hope I will stay healthy.
- It is too early for wishes.
- I wish to become self-employed. That I would become independent from my husband, from my mother, and later from my children.
- I hope that no one must send their children hungry to bed. No one should suffer from hunger.
- Trust and a lot of love keep us together, and a common hope holds us together.
- I hope to receive a residence permit in a couple of years, so that I could visit my family.
Group of men from Afghanistan
- My hope was tostay in my home country.
- Hope for protection; no one protected us.
- Hope for education for our children and wives.
- I am 38 years old. I was born during war times, and it stil has been war. I don’t know what to hope for.
- The world is our homeland.
- We have given up on hope that there would be peace in Afghanistan.
- We were born again in this country. We have left fear behind us.
- One can fulfill desires.
- We came to Germany to fulfill our hope. We also hope that we and our children could give something in return.
- With hope I rely more on the Lord.
- As long as I am alive, there is hope.
- Without hope you cannot achieve anything.
- We left behind us many threats hoping that our children would have a future.
- Hope gave us the strength, so we could manage to arrive here so far.
Group of children
- I hope someone might be good.
- I hope my uncle would come.
- I hope we would make an excursion.
- I hope that Bisam would remain my best friend.
- I wish Messi would visit me.
- I wish to become a doctor.
- I would like to become a police woman.
- I hope that the sun would shine from Friday through Tuesday.
- I would like to become a beautician.
- I wish that my father would become healthy again.
- I wish my mother would come from Lebanon.
- I wish that my parents would stay healthy.
- I wish for my sister to have a dog, and for myself a horse.
Group form Nigerian
- There are different types of hope.
- God always gives hope.
- Hope, wishes and documents are working together.
- The fulfillment of a desire, that comes early is a wish, if it comes late it is hope.
- You cannot trust the future, but you can hope on it.
- Hope is Maybe.
- One day he will walk on his feet.
- Hope is, to come here to be secure.
- For your wishes, you must work.
- By one day, my hope will come true.
- Hope is, when you are looking for something that will come later.
- If you are looking for hope in Nigeria, it will not come to pass.
- Hope and wishes work together.