Science and photography promote a new era of understanding the world
In the heart of the city of Zurich, world-class science will meet world-class photography from 8 September 2023. Together, they are creating a new format for communication. The focus is on the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations: A multinational compass for the development of a more peaceful and just world. ETH Zurich is the scientific partner of Open Your Eyes 2023.
An alliance of world-class photography and world-class science: that is the short formula of the photo festival "Open your Eyes: Transforming our World," which will be on view as an open-air exhibition in the heart of Zurich from 8 September to 15 October 2023.
Large open-air installations intertwine documentary photography and scientific knowledge in 17 exhibition islands to create a plea for peace, tolerance and togetherness. "The exhibited works are testimonies of our time, proving that the connection between humans, technology and nature is more than ever of social relevance," says Lois Lammerhuber, co-initiator of the festival and himself a multiple award-winning photographer. He recognises in the 17 SDGs a kind of "new 10 commandments of multinational co-existence".
Stop. Think. Feel. Act.
Through the aesthetic magic of picture narratives, the gardens, streets, and squares of Zurich are transformed into a picturesque city. Public space becomes the setting for a holistic work of art whose energy culminates with research findings that touch us all. This results in surprising perspectives full of sensual creativity. The aim of Open Your Eyes is to invite visitors to engage with the challenging issues of our time in an empathetic way and to be amazed by great images. Nature, beauty, art, insight - and inspiration to think about the world and shape it in a sustainable way.
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development was adopted by all 193 member states of the United Nations in September 2015 and provides a common blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet.
Open Your Eyes also means transparency about the transformation of our world. In the design and implementation of the goals, the importance of people as the central force of sustainable development is emphasised: in the sense of people, planet and prosperity.
The photographic works presented are not to be understood as illustrations of the SDGs, but as comments and annotations in the sense of Cornell Capa's "Concerned Photographers". Capa chose this term to describe works that go beyond documenting events and show them with a humanitarian impulse. This school of thought is also known as a concept in the context of science: The term "Concerned Scientists" hints to the use of rigorous, independent science to solve our planet's most pressing problems.
“The intertwining of photography and academic research opens up a new approach of an emotional and intellectual nature to visualise the complexity of today and the importance of human creativity in addressing current as well as future challenges.”Günther Dissertori, Rector ETH Zürich
The exhibitions engage with the human condition in such an intense and easily understandable way that their experience becomes a highly empathetic and unique international communication benchmark.
ETH Zurich adds about 50 contributions from its own universe of science and innovation to the visual works. The projects and solutions selected by ETH Zurich for each of the SDGs provide guidance for action. In terms of content, this means making the successes of our civilisation visible. And further, it means triggering national and international media communication to strengthen the SDGs as a frame of reference for peaceful and just co-existence in a global society.
"In its partnership with Open Your Eyes 2023, ETH Zurich demonstrates how the university and its members contribute to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals through research, education and innovation" says Günther Dissertori, Rector of ETH Zurich. "The intertwining of photography and academic research opens up a new approach of an emotional and intellectual nature to visualise the complexity of today and the importance of human creativity in addressing current as well as future challenges."
Zurich in a different look
The Open Your Eyes photo festival is dedicated to all people, the natural and built environment. The goal is to reach the breadth of the globalised society that will stroll through Zurich in the fall of 2023 and to whom a unique exhibition format will be made accessible. It creates a new narrative of art and science as a collaborative intellectual-artistic narrative to create momentum for sustainable development.
Open Your Eyes will wrap the cityscape of Zurich in a different dress. From the Polyterrasse of ETH Zurich, where the sustainability Goal 4 "Quality Education" is thematised, the view slides over to the Lindenhof and down to the lake. At the Lindenhof and at General Guisan Quai, the two rounds of photography and science begin in a city route and a lake route and stretch a total of around three kilometres through the city and along Lake Zurich to the port of Enge.
World-class contributions from photography and science
While the 42 exhibiting photographers are already known, the contributions from the ETH community are currently being compiled. The ETH Sustainability team curates and prepares the collection of ETH contributions for the photo festival. Anyone from the ETH community interested in presenting a contribution from research and innovation can contact sustainability@ethz.ch directly.
Students and researchers worldwide have been demanding the consistent addressing of sustainability in teaching and research for many years. "The contribution of science and thus of institutions like ETH Zurich are central to achieving the SDGs," says Günther Dissertori, looking forward to the Open Your Eyes exhibition, which opens from Zurich to the entire world.
Contact
ETH Sustainability, sustainability@ethz.ch
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