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Korean artist Ik-Joong Kang is a dream collector. For years, he has collected over 135,000 drawings from children in 141 countries. Each of the drawings reflect the children’s dreams of the future and the present, about hunger, peace, love and play. Since 1999, Ik-Joong Kang has presented these dreams in a series projects: the “100,000 Dreams” and “Moon of Dreams” in his native South Korea, and “Amazed World” at the United
Nations in New York and the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital.
For this year’s G8 Summit in Heiligendamm, Ik-Joong Kang is launching Small Pieces for Peace – an installation that will present thousands of 3 x 3-inch children’s drawings in the ruins of an old Cistercian monastery in the German town of Bad Doberan.
With the help of volunteers, teachers, NGOs and other organizations, Ik-Joong Kang’s letter asking for pictures reached many children around the world. So far, over 25,000 pictures have been sent to Bad Doberan. Children are still encouraged to send in their pictures by mail or email.
In a letter to G8 host German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Ik-Joong Kang described the effects of violent images and newspaper headlines on his 9-year-old son. “He sees the pictures of soldiers dying on the streets with guns in their hands,” says Ik-Joong Kang. “He cannot understand why people would want to fight and kill each other. He dreams of peace.”
Small Pieces for Peace runs from June 1 to July 8 as part of the BALANCE! exhibition.
For more information, please visit http://www.smallpiecesforpeace.com/ or
Children can send their pictures to info@smallpiecesforpeace.com, or by post to:
Small Pieces for Peace
Münster Bad Doberan
Klosterstr. 2
18209 Bad Doberan
Germany
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“The children of Iraq longing for peace; Tanzanian children had dreams of eating until they were full; children of Jakarta dreamt that they were no longer storms or floods; a child from Iran drams of his mother getting well and healthy again…They are the dreams of our children, they are the thoughts and hope of our future generation.”
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