From 24 February to May 6, 2017, Olafur Eliasson: Green light – An artistic workshop is hosted by the Moody Center for the Arts at Rice University in Houston, Texas, as part of their inaugural program.
 
Initiated by Eliasson in collaboration with Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary (TBA21) in Vienna, Austria, in 2016, this project addresses the current geopolitical issues surrounding global migration. It shows a metaphorical green light to asylum seekers, refugees, and economic migrants, inviting them to participate in a multi-faceted program of creativity and shared learning.
 
This educational and artistic program investigates the diverse range of perspectives on migration, citizenship, statelessness, arrival, memory, and the multiple thresholds of belonging as well as offering a workshop for the construction of Green light lamps, language courses, seminars, artist’s interventions, film screenings, and other resources for migrants. For more information of the Green light project at the Moody, please visit moody.rice.edu
 
“Green light is an act of welcoming, addressed both to those who have fled hardship and instability in their home countries and to the residents of the cities receiving them. Working together in a playful creative process, participants build a modular light and construct a communal environment in which difference is not only accepted but embraced. I hope Green light shines light on some of the challenges and responsibilities arising from the current refugee crisis in Europe and throughout the world.”  – Olafur Eliasson

The Moody is a new, state-of-the-art, 5,000-square-meter facility dedicated to cross-disciplinary collaboration between the arts, sciences, and humanities, designed to push the boundaries of interdisciplinary exploration. As an educational and creative center located in Houston, which is one of the most diverse cities in the United States and has resettled more refugees than any other city in the country, the Moody is especially suited to host the public discussions that the workshop aims to instigate. The Moody’s partner organization, Interfaith Ministries, is one of six resettlement services in Houston serving refugees and persons newly granted asylum.
 
The first Green light workshop was hosted by TBA21 in Vienna in the Spring of 2016 as a response to the critical moment of social transformation in Europe.
 
Visit the Green light website: olafureliasson.net/greenlight.
 
To learn more about the project at TBA21–Augarten, Vienna, Austria, visit: tba21.org/greenlight_workshop.
 
All proceeds from the project at TBA21–Augarten, Vienna, are distributed to our partner organizations: Red Cross Vienna and Caritas. Proceeds from the project at the Moody will go to support partner organizations in Houston.

Olafur Eliasson. Green light, 2016. Co-produced by Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary.
Photo: María del Pilar García Ayensa / Studio Olafur Eliasson, 2016.

The crystalline Green light lamps are polyhedral units fitted with small, green-tinted light fixtures. Made predominantly from recycled and sustainable materials and designed to be stackable, the modules can function either as single objects or be assembled into a variety of architectural configurations.