| Anything to Say? – A Monument to Courage | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Artist | Davide Dormino |
| Year | 2015 |
| Type | Sculpture |
| Medium | Bronze |
| Website | http://www.anythingtosay.com/ |
Anything to Say? is a travelling bronzesculpture andpublicart installation by Italian artist Davide Dormino that was erected on May 1, 2015, on Berlin'sAlexanderplatz. The full title of the work isAnything to Say? - A Monument to Courage.[1] The whistleblowersEdward Snowden,Julian Assange, andChelsea Manning are shown standing on three chairs in the installation, which also contains an empty fourth chair that will serve as a platform for public speaking. People are encouraged to "stand up instead of sit like the others" by the fourth empty chair. The installation was unveiled as part of a private art project supported by international crowdfunding.[2] In 2016 Davide Dormino was awarded the Prix Éthique 2016 byAnticor forAnything to Say?[3]
Davide Dormino's sculpture,Anything to say?, symbolizes the courage ofwhistleblowers and all those who fight to defend freedom of expression and information. It travels from city to city to remind the public about the massive invasions of privacy, the information control, and the disinformation to which they are subjected by governments and corporations, and about their democratic and legitimate right to know.[4][5]
Julian Assange, Chelsea Manning, and Edward Snowden were chosen as examples of contemporary people who have put themselves in danger in order to reveal information and shed light on events that were hidden or misrepresented.[5] The sculpture is supported byReporters Without Borders (RSF), an NGO that defends media freedom.
The sculpture stopped inGeneva during the 30th session of theHuman Rights Council, on the Place des Nations from September 14 to 18, 2015, in front of theUnited Nations building.[6]
TheGeorges Pompidou Centre inParis displayed the sculpture from September 23 to 29 2015 in the square in front of the centre, where the display was inaugurated on September 23 in the presence of Dormino,Reporters Without Borders secretary-generalChristophe Deloire, UBS whistleblowerStéphanie Gibaud, Luc Hermann, an investigative journalist who is one of the directors of the Premières Lignes production company, and Marco Benagli, representing a civil society group that helped fund the project.
The French actressCatherine Deneuve[7] also attended as the inauguration's sponsor. She sat in the sculpture's empty chair and read an address written for the occasion byIrène Frachon, the French specialist who exposed the dangers of the antidiabetic drugMediator.
The sculpture was displayed inStrasbourg’sPlace Kléber from November 16 to 21 2016 as part of the annual StrasbourgWorld Forum for Democracy.[8] The display was inaugurated on November 17 in the presence of Dormino, Deloire andLuxleaks whistleblowerAntoine Deltour.
The sculpture was displayed inBrussels,Place de la Monnaie, in 2020.[9][10]
