Amnesty ‘Makes the Invisible Visible’ – innovative ‘railings’ street art unveiled across Europe

Expat Watch – Amnesty International today unveiled a series of unique art installations across Europe that highlight the plight of six individuals from across the world who have suffered human rights abuses.

“Making the invisible visible” is a unique collaboration with German street art collective Mentalgassi and creative team Aussie expat Lisa Jelliffe and Kiwi expat Kirsten Rutherford from Wieden + Kennedy, Amsterdam.

The installations use special lenticular fence posters. Launched in London last year to highlight the case of Troy Davis, this year the street art campaign can be seen in 26 locations across 6 European cities.

Each installation depicts a close up of an individual’s face. The image is invisible from front on, only becoming visible to those approaching the fence. A plaque on each site alerts passers-by to an Amnesty International website where they can take action in support of each of the individuals featured.

The installations have appeared in sites across Denmark, Germany, Ireland and Wales.

A short video and images on the project can be VIEWED HERE

The individuals highlighted in the art installations are:

–    Natalia Estemirova. A Russian human rights activist who was abducted and killed by armed men on 15 July 2009 in Grozny, Chechnya. There are still no reliable signs that those involved in the murder, including those who might have ordered it, will be brought to justice.

–    Filep Karma, who is currently serving a 15-year prison sentence in Indonesia for taking part in an annual ceremony where a Papuan independence flag was raised. He was one of 200 people who took part in the peaceful ceremony on 1 December 2004.

–    Halil Savda, a human rights campaigner in Turkey, who faces continued risk of imprisonment for freely expressing support for conscientious objectors.  

–    Jabbar Savalan, a history student in Azerbaijan, who is serving a two and a half year prison sentence for his peaceful anti-government activism, including comments he posted on Facebook.

–    Fatima Hussein Badi faces the death penalty in Yemen following an unfair trial in which her brother, Abdullah Badi, was also sentenced to death. Abdullah was executed in 2005.

–    Jean-Claude Roger Mbede , 31-year-old student who is serving a three year prison sentence in Cameroon for “homosexuality and attempted homosexuality”, both of which are criminalised. He is at risk of homophobic attacks and ill-treatment in prison.

The cases featured are all part of Amnesty International’s Write for Rights initiative which will see hundreds of thousands of people send messages of support to those around the world that have suffered human rights abuses.

Lisa and Kirsten (left) have been in London since 2004. This year tey left their senior team role at Brothers and Sisters to take up a similar role at W+K in March.

Their final work at B&S was a follow up app to the Museum of London Streetmuseum iPhone app. The pair told CB: “The original has just hit 300,000 downloads which they’re thrilled with as the client originally hoped for 5000. 

“We’ve mostly been working on Honda since we started at W+K, namely three interactive projects appearing as part of the 2012 Civic launch campaign. The Experiment is the 2nd piece of work, with the third piece launching online on December 7.”