[artinfo] Jochen Gerz, Square of the European Promise in Bochum

[e-artnow]

An artwork by many and a central site for the European idea

<http://europeanpromise.eu>europeanpromise.eu

Square of the European Promise by Jochen Gerz  

Inauguration on 11 December 2015 at 5 pm, Bochum, Germany

"Just like the stars give their light to the night,
  people give their promises to the future."
(Jochen Gerz)

An artwork by many and a central site for the 
European idea - in 2004 the citizens of Bochum in 
the Ruhr-area of Germany first followed the 
invitation of internationally renowned artist 
Jochen Gerz and gave a promise to Europe. 
Everyone kept their promise to themselves, but 
the names of those who pledged were inscribed 
into the ground of a new square - the Square of 
the European Promise.

As people from the region, Germany and later from 
all over Europe continued to participate, 
thousands of names filled the square. Today, with 
14.726 names engraved in the 63 giant basalt 
stone plates on the 3.000 sqm square in the city 
centre, each representing a different and 
personal contribution, the square has become 
truly European.

It took eleven years to finalise the 
participatory work commissioned by the city of 
Bochum. And, like so many times before in its 
history, Europe has changed during those years. 
What does that mean for the promises given at the 
turn of the century? What kind of future did the 
citizens of Europe imagine?  

Throughout the years the question the Square of 
the European Promise asks remains the same. And 
everyone visiting or passing it in the future 
will find themselves answering it in one way or 
another. What is your contribution to the future 
today? The future belongs to those who imagine it 
today. The new square is a monument for something 
that does not yet exist.

Just like Jochen Gerz' iconic commemorative works 
- the Monument against Fascism in Hamburg-Harburg 
(1986) which has been hidden in the ground for 
many years now, or the Monument against Racism in 
Saarbrücken (1995) - the Square of the European 
Promise also plays with the invisible, the 
temporal and the contributions of living people. 
No other public square is the work of so many and 
no other square is dedicated, not to the dead, 
but to the living.

The lighting concept is the creation of French 
designer Laurent Fachard, who previously lit the 
facade of the Elysée-Palace in Paris, and plans 
for the Square of the European Promise were 
developed by Soan Architects.

On 11 December 2015 at 5 pm the Square of the 
European Promise will be inaugurated.

Square of the European Promise
Christuskirche Bochum / City Hall
44787 Bochum - Centre
...
The Square of the European Promise is a public 
authorship project by Jochen Gerz, commissioned 
by the city of Bochum and funded by the federal 
state government of North-Rhine-Westphalia,, the 
city and the protestant church of Bochum. The 
square finalises the Cultural Capital Year RUHR. 
2010. (Kulturhauptstadtjahr RUHR.2010.)