‘HELLOWORLD’ MEDIA ART PROJECT, ON VIEW AT UN HEADQUARTERS ON 10 - 12 DECEMBER, TO PROMOTE WORLD SUMMIT ON INFORMATION SOCIETY, HUMAN RIGHTS

‘HELLOWORLD’ MEDIA ART PROJECT, ON VIEW AT UN HEADQUARTERS ON 10 - 12 DECEMBER,

TO PROMOTE WORLD SUMMIT ON INFORMATION SOCIETY, HUMAN RIGHTS

On the occasion of the first-ever World Summit on the Information Society, a ground-breaking media art installation by Swiss artist Johannes Gees will publicize the Summit by projecting laser messages on the north façade of the United Nations Building and three other global landmarks, while making them simultaneously available worldwide through the Internet.

The World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) will be held in Geneva from 10 to 12 December, with a second phase in Tunisia in 2005.  Taking place under the patronage of Secretary-General Kofi Annan, the Summit will bring together Heads of State, non-governmental organizations, industry leaders, media representatives and Executive Heads of the United Nations system to shape the future of the information society and to promote access of all countries to information, knowledge and communication technologies for development.  The event is organized by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the United Nations agency for telecommunications. 

To publicize the Summit, the United Nations has agreed with the Federal Office of Culture of Switzerland –- the Summit host country -- to feature on its Secretariat Building an innovative art installation, the Helloworld Project, which utilizes the information technologies to be discussed at the Summit.

The Helloworld Project is a global interactive text installation combining language, landscapes and communication technology to create a visual dialogue.  From 9 to 12 December, people from all over the world will be invited to send messages, either by logging in at www.helloworldproject.com, or by sending a text message (Short Message Service, or SMS) to a dedicated number.  In New York, the number is 44 7781 48 40 48.

The messages will be projected almost instantly by huge laser beams onto mountains and buildings in Mumbai, Rio de Janeiro and Geneva -- the Summit’s host city -- while video images of the projections will be broadcast live on the project’s website and at the World Summit on the Information Society in Geneva. The messages projected onto the north façade of the United Nations Building in New York on 12 December will be chosen from the best of the messages received and projected at the other locations.

The other projection sites are the Air India Building in Mumbai, the Jet d'eau (Water Fountain) in Geneva and the Morro dois Irmãos (Mountain of the Brothers) in Rio de Janeiro.  At these sites, the project will run at night from 9 to 12 December, while the Secretariat Building will be utilized from 6 p.m. until 9 p.m. on 12 December, the closing day of the World Summit.

On Human Rights Day, 10 December, the Helloworld Project will project United Nations messages about human rights onto the north face wall of the Secretariat Building from 6 p.m. until 9 p.m.

The Helloworld Project, conceived and created by Mr. Gees, will engage people from all over the world into a global dialogue.  A similar project by the artist, HelloMrPresident, carried out at the 2001 World Economic Forum in Davos, received more than 8,000 messages from some 80 countries during five days, and was covered in leading international newspapers.

The project is organized by the Swiss Federal Department of Home Affairs, Federal Office of Culture of Switzerland, which has made available the technical installation needed for the projections onto the United Nations Secretariat Building.

The Secretariat Building has been utilized only on very special occasions to publicize United Nations concerns.  The last occasion was the General Assembly special session on HIV/AIDS in June 2001, when for two nights the Building stood out against the New York skyline emblazoned with a red ribbon –- the symbol of solidarity in the fight against the epidemic.  On the occasion of the World Summit, the use of the Building recognizes that the twenty-first century is the century of the information society, and that information technology is a major tool to realize the United Nations Millennium Development Goals.

For information, please check the project website www.helloworldproject.com; or contact Martina Volpe at the Permanent Mission of Switzerland to the United Nations, tel.: (212) 286 1540; or Marc Wehrlin at the Swiss Federal Office of Culture, tel.: (+41) 79 215 8578.

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