Brussels, 5 July 2023
The Council of the European Union will feel the light of the sun during the six-month Spanish presidency through the “Solar Landscape”, an artistic installation that aims to bring the EU closer to citizens.
The installation combines the European commitment to the green transition and the themes of diversity, inclusion and integration.
Sunlight is the thread uniting the three art installations that have been set up in the Council’s architectural complex in Brussels, creating a changing and living work that aims to create a link between the outside world, the Member States and citizens.
In the Atrium, various canvases envelope visitors in “the sun, light, sky, sunsets and sunrises of different Spanish cities”, explains Rocío Asensi, the author of the work.
They allow the “unveiling of the dreams of European citizens, represented in this project; equity in education, care for the most vulnerable, children and the elderly, democratic values, gender equality, the green transition, inclusion and basic rights.”
In the lobby of the Justus Lipsius building is, in the words of the artist, “the bridge to Latin America that is so present in the line that the Spanish presidency wants to follow.”
Mexican composer Alvaro Saldaña fills the same space with ambient sounds and visuals, including the voices of children and citizens from different EU countries.
In the Forum of the Europa Building, landscapes are created by shadow lamps, the Sierra de Gredos mountains and Spanish pine forests.
“When visiting the three installations that make up “Solar Landscape”, we see Spain’s presence in every detail in the pieces,” Asensi adds.
A message for the green transition
In addition to its evocative message of European unity, values and future, the work is a clear example of the importance the Spanish presidency attaches to the drive towards green transition.
Sustainability has been applied to the installation, made with reusable materials which will later be recycled, and lit up by low-energy bulbs.
“These are pieces which, aside from playing with the idea of sunlight, invite us to reflect on the society we want, we are building, and we want to build,” the Spanish artist comments.
“Solar Landscape”, which will be on display in the EU Council complex until the end of the year, is the winning entry in the call for artistic interventions launched by the Coordination Office for the Spanish presidency of the EU Council, Acción Cultural Española (AC/E) and the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID).
The project was designed by Asensi and re-create Studio, the jury defining it as a “sober and direct installation” with an “extraordinary evocative capacity”.
Source – EU Council