City of Miami Beach Welcomes Olafur Eliasson’s Earth Speakr to the United States

(Miami Beach, FL) Nov 25, 2020 -

The City of Miami Beach is pleased to announce the integration of the participatory artwork Earth Speakr by artist Olafur Eliasson within the Miami Beach Art in Public Places Program. Earth Speakr invites residents of South Florida and all over the world to listen to what the next generation has to say about the future of our planet. The artwork promotes cross-generational dialogue at a critical time for Miami Beach in light of rising sea levels.

First launched in the EU on July 1, 2020, the interactive artwork invites kids to speak up on the wellbeing of the planet and adults to listen and amplify what the kids have to say. To take part, kids and young people below the voting age are invited to download the free Earth Speakr app and use the playful augmented reality technology to animate their environment and speak up for their local surroundings. At earthspeakr.art, adults can demonstrate that messages are being heard by creating so-called ‘Loud Speakrs’, AR collections of messages. Loud Speakrs can be placed anywhere on a virtual map – in public squares, parks, above political buildings – to encourage others to listen too.

The predominately digital artwork is available in 25 languages and accessible worldwide, and offers a unique opportunity for people to join together and co-create the artwork together.

“Earth Speakr is a collective artwork that invites kids to be artists. What Earth Speakr will become depends on the Earth Speakrs – their creativity and imagination. The artwork is made up of their thoughts and visions, concerns and hopes. What they create can be playful and whimsical, serious, or poetic. There is no right or wrong, and it is easy for everyone to take part. Earth Speakr invites kids to speak their hearts and minds and participate in shaping our world and the planet, today and in the future,” said Eliasson.

Since it launched, Earth Speakr has connected with key thinkers and leaders to ask them to demonstrate they are listening to kids. To recognize that kids’ voices are vital to the shaping of our shared future, Earth Speakr invites everyone to use #ListenToTheFuture as part of a social media campaign, which recently highlighted Article 12 The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child – the child’s right to be heard – on the occasion of World Children’s Day, November 20.

Earth Speakr was created by Olafur Eliasson with his studio, kids, creative partners, and a group of researchers and experts, and is funded by the Federal Foreign Office on the We are committed to providing excellent public service and safety to all who live, work and play in our vibrant, tropical, historic community. occasion of the German Presidency of the Council of the European Union 2020 and realized in cooperation with the Goethe-Institut. German Embassies and Goethe-Instituts have played an important role in demonstrating together that kids’ messages are being heard.

The City of Miami Beach encourages everyone to participate further in the artwork by customizing a response to what kids have to say. This can be done in a number of ways, such as:

1. Creating a statement to share publicly alongside a Speakr or Loud Speakr
2. Starting a discussion by hosting a virtual broadcast of your Loud Speakr & statement
3. Using Earth Speakr toolkits with kids and streaming messages on your public screens

About the Miami Beach Art in Public Places Program The Miami Beach Art in Public Places Program is a City of Miami Beach program for commissioning public art. The program was created in 1984, with its ordinance adopted in 1995. The program allocates funds totaling 2% of all capital costs for City projects and joint private/public projects making it one of the most progressive Public Art programs in the United States. Appointed by the City Commission, the AiPP Committee’s seven members serve in an advisory capacity to the Mayor and City Commission. The program is administered and curated by Brandi Reddick, Cultural Affairs Program Manager and Joshua Carden, Art in Public Places Coordinator