Want your artwork to be seen by as many people as possible? A gallery might work, but it’s a bit limiting for those unable to travel to it. What about displaying it at the same time, all around the world? That’s exactly what WriteUnite is doing with a new exhibition of artwork from young people: ‘Visions of the Future‘. Comprised of work from children in 28 countries, across six continents, the exhibition allows the next generation to express how they “really feel about the world as it is today and how they want it to be in the future”. Running from November 14-20, it may be only for a limited time but there’s surely an artwork displayed near you.
‘Visions of the Future’ was put together from thousands of pieces of art, poetry, and writing that went on to form the basis of WriteUnite’s book of the same name. Pieces are both hopeful and fearful, worried and optimistic. They encompass universal topics: climate change, mental health, race, gender, and the desire for peace and harmony. They also reflect inwards, exploring the personal struggles, concerns, and dreams of the young artists. Among the artists are child refugees, such as sixteen-year-old Sitt Paing, a refugee from Myanmar living in Thailand. Paing’s work is one of the pieces visible throughout London:
‘Visions of the Future’ around the world
A truly globally sourced exhibition, the work is being presented in spectacular international fashion. But they’re not sticking to galleries and museum walls. Instead, they’re bringing the artwork to the streets and skies of ten cities around the globe. The works are being displayed on street corners, city billboards, at bus stops, and more. The works in London, for example, can be found at three separate bus stops. Meanwhile works in Bangkok are being displayed on a billboard outside the MBK Shopping Centre, Parisians can find multiple virtual posters around the Centre Pompidou, and Los Angelenos can find them on benches around their city.
Can’t find one near you? Or simply want to see all the artwork in one place? They’ve also made an online virtual gallery that you can wander around at their website. It’s definitely one to check out for the way the internationally sourced art speaks so coherently to similar themes. Said Omara Elling-Hwang, the UK-based founder of WriteUnite CIC:
“It’s really eye opening to see young people from different countries drawing similar pictures such as earth destroyed by climate change or the oppression of young girls and women. But they also draw images of hope and positivity with rainbows, sunshine and a world where there is peace, kindness and equal rights.”
You can find the London artworks at bus stops on Euston Road (outside King’s Cross Station), Charing Cross Road (outside of Leicester Square Station), and Albert Embankment (near the International Maritime Organisation). Other artworks can be seen in Paris, Washington DC, Los Angeles, Buenos Aires, Nairobi, Singapore, Mumbai, Bangkok, and Sydney.
The physically displayed artworks will be in place from November 14-20.