Earth Hour 2018: Experiencing the power of solar and togetherness
‘Switch off the lights, and turn on your Little Sun’ said Olafur in his video message on Saturday – and so the Earth Hour at our Little Sun Headquarters began.
Together with The Solar Panel Art Series, we invited guests to switch off the lights and experience how it feels to spend one hour only in the light of solar-powered Little Suns. Turns out, they can be pretty bright!
Earth Hour is a yearly campaign by WWF, inspiring people across the world to take action for the environment and our planet. By switching off the lights for one hour, participants show their support for climate action, sustainability and renewable energy. The Little Sun team decided to unite with millions of people, cities, communities and landmarks around the globe in celebrating Earth Hour.
We started our day full of solar fun and art in the afternoon, with solar workshops for kids, run by Tabea and André, who already led the amazing Little Sun program at Usdan Summer Camp last year. Kids could create their own Sunlight Graffiti and learn about solar energy in a fun and interactive way.
Check out the beautiful collective ocean landscape they created!
As the sun set, more and more guests started arriving at the Little Sun offices, transformed for the evening into a little event space with one room exhibiting the beautiful work from the Solar Panel Art Series. The initiative invites artists to use solar panels as an artistic medium, creating a platform where renewable energy meets artistic creativity. Sales from the artworks support the Little Sun Foundation.
Prior to the Earth Hour, Little Sun lamps were handed out to the guests, preparing them for one hour without electricity. From 8.30 to 9.30 pm, they lit up the darkness. Guests were invited to play with the light settings. We went from all lamps on to only a few lamps to no lamps at all – sitting in the darkness and only listening to the beautiful voice of Berlin-based Ethiopian artist Martha Tefemerra, who played a traditional Ethiopian instrument, the ‘Krar’.
Experiencing Earth Hour at Olafur Eliasson’s studio w #LittleSun and traditional #Ethiopian music pic.twitter.com/qak6B5XRYr
— Philip Rafael (@philip_rafael) March 24, 2018
Visual artist, Henok Getachew, also entertained us during the hour without electricity. ‘Voice Fossils’ is an interactive performance that allowed the guests to exchange messages and send voices to the future through a ‘string telephone’. His performance highlighted the importance of our voices for saving our planet.
Throughout the evening, guests had the opportunity to try out our famous Sunlight Graffiti, creating their own personal artworks with Little Sun. The color sheets from the kids workshop earlier were surprisingly popular with the adults as well, so that we got some unusually colorful graffiti.
Thank you to everyone who joined us for Earth Hour, especially all the artists involved and our friends from the Solar Panel Art Series.
We hope to see you at the next event!
