Climate Activists Deface Constitutional Monument in Germany with Black Paint, Posters Favorite

Practitioner:

The Last Generation

Date:

Mar 4 2023

Location:

Berlin Germany

Climate activists defaced a work of art near Germany's Parliament Saturday in the latest act of vandalism by protestors concerned with environmental policy.

Members of The Last Generation threw black liquid over a series of glass plates displaying 19 articles of the German constitution. The protestors then affixed posters to the facade that read, "Oil or fundamental rights?" in German.

The artwork, created by Israeli artist Dani Karavan, was on display outside the German Parliament and is meant to convey the importance of free speech and free assembly.

The group said in a statement that the German government was not protecting citizens' "fundamental rights" due to the country's continued use of fossil fuels.

The vandalism drew strong criticism from German officials, who questioned the message being sent by the act.

"Those are the fundamental rights on which the demonstrators from Last Generation themselves base the justification for their actions," Parliament Speaker Bärbel Bas said in a statement. "I can only hope that the glass plates of the artwork were not permanently damaged."

The glass artwork was cleaned up by the afternoon.

The Last Generation is only one of multiple climate activism groups that have demanded media attention in the last few months by defacing public artwork.

https://www.foxnews.com/world/climate-activists-deface-constitutional-mo...

External sources:

https://letztegeneration.de/en/

Posted by sl8377 on Mar 5 2023

Staff rating:

Effectiveness

How does this project help?

Amplifies (issue or campaign)Brings public and political attention to an issue or campaign. Can include prefigurative action, making the invisible visible.

Strengthens (community)Strengthens, builds and celebrates community through ritual and/or symbol.

Sustains (change)Support and celebrate change that has already been won and needs to be sustained.

Timeframe For change

This project seems to be part of a campaign with a clear long-term goal. Long-term goals tend to be things like: end racism; end homophobia; make the sun stand still in the sky. A campaign with a long-term goal also needs to have some kind of theory of change.

The long-term if this project is to stop the use of fossil fuels within Germany, as the organization feels the health of the people is more important. Transitioning from the use of natural resources to other non renewable energy resources is not an easy change, so this will not be a quick turn around.

Notes

The project is not very effective, because the demonstration (or vandalism) that the organization started was resolved by authorities within a day. Though artwork was placed outside near the German parliament building by Israeli artist Dani Karavan, the message of the activist were questioned by German officials due to the vandalism. After blocking a highway in The Hague some protestors were detained and taken away by bus, and this the same ground that vandalizing a painting with mashed potatoes last October. They are spreading awareness to their cause, but it is not effective as people are not joining them, but simply watching.