Crosswalks are natural writing spaces; we use them as lined notebook pages, writing words and sentences on the white stripes that relate to the crosswalk’s immediate surroundings. The act of writing may be guided by the presence of a nearby school or church.
The Poetipedestrian Crosswalks cut through the gray and white of urban streets and add to the dialog that we wish to foster between the inhabitants and their city.
Let’s Give the World to the Children
Let’s give the world to the children just for one day
like a balloon in bright and striking colours to play with
let them play singing among the stars
let’s give the world to the children
like a huge apple like a warm loaf of bread
at least for one day let them have enough
let’s give the world to the children
at least for one day let the world learn friendship
children will get the world from our hands
they’ll plant immortal trees
Nâzim Hikmet
(Translated by Fuat Engin)
This device is part of COSMOLANDS, an installation articulated according to several principles; all are in the service of an appropriation and a dynamization of the places of life. We act in the heart of the cities, on the walls forgotten by the eyes, on the sidewalks where we do our shopping, on the writing lines of the crosswalks, along the mountain paths, in the middle of the forest, in the museums, the churches, the festival halls. To help to live, here is the main stake of COSMOLANDS. To help to live one’s space, to live one’s memory, to live the social body to which one belongs. To quote Pina Bausch: our action would seek to invent moments of pure love.
