Take a journey 2,000 years into the future… to look back at our world today.
Collecting Europe is a collaboration between the Goethe-Institut and the Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A) in partnership with the British Council. It invites learners and artists around the world to imagine how our present might be viewed from the future.
Kicking off the project, 12 international artists have been commissioned to imagine what Europe might look like 2,000 years from now. The 12 artistic commissions form a display at the V&A. These will be followed by further commissions, workshops, debates and other events.
Collecting Europe challenges people to question concepts of boundaries, identity and nationality – themes that are as relevant globally as they are to the debate over Europe.
Shape your vision of Europe online
The three organisations have produced a website collectingeurope.net which includes:
A constantly evolving digital exhibition of the activities that take place as part of the Collecting Europe programme
A quiz game where users are asked a series of questions relating to boundaries and identity. Just some of these include:
Can you imagine a world without countries? Yes/no
National identities could be replaced by digital citizenship. Agree/disagree?
Would you have a romantic relationship with a robot? Yes/no
As users answer these questions, they create a coloured shape, a world built from their own concepts of boundaries and borders. Their answers then become part of a collective shape, allowing them to compare their answers with those of others, exploring how people from different countries and of different ages answered each question.
Learn through Collecting Europe
Collecting Europe will grow through 2017 and beyond to include a suite of teaching resources for English language learners that explore themes of identity and boundaries.