(Deutsche Übersetzung in Vorbereitung)
Over and over again, the world community is shaken by events that might have a negative global impact, making the world a less inviting and friendly place. People of today are preoccupied with survival: hunger, wars, natural disasters, a pandemic, financial crises. Apart from that, they are busy enough on a daily basis with work, relations, housing, and economic survival, in summary, with the turmoil of their individual lives.
That’s what humans are, individuals. Not isolated individuals, but individuals that are surrounded by other individuals, creating a world that belongs to all of us. Humans make communities, societies, organisations, nations, religions. They make war or peace. All those things exist by the sake of individuals who do or do not share common believes and values, who therefore do or do not choose to unite.
Every living creature - I dare say, be it an elephant, lion, rat, dolphin, shark or human- is a unique individual. It has its own individual way to act and react on life. No living being can see and experience the world exactly the same way another living being does. Individuality, being unique, is the expression of creativity in living beings. Creativity, in my view, is the essence of life. Every act against creativity, I therefore see as an act against life itself.
You may say I am a dreamer, but I think it is possible. In my opinion it is a matter of motivation and choice. History though shows us it is apparently not that simple. What is needed? First of all, the willingness to state and effect the right of every human on individuality. Secondly, empathy, being aware of and sensitive to another’s situation. Every individual should try -and preferably be able- to imagine how life is for another person. So, we need some imaginative power here in our brains. Thirdly: This empathic imaginative power is brought into practice preferably with a sense of altruïsm, a social feeling of unselfishness, and with respect.
The big challenge here is being our individual selves and at the same time being connected to other living beings. Empathy, altruïsm and mutual respect are necessary conditions for this. As the French concluded from their history: ‘liberté, égalité et fraternité’. In this way we collectively can make the world a more friendly and secure place. Stories can be helpful in a process of creating some mutual focus for individuals and groups on life issues. For the La pavilion I have made some new stories based on the beauty of nature. They are bedtime stories to be shared around the globe. The sharing is up to you.