Anything to Say?
Anything to Say? is an art installation by Italian sculptor Davide Dormino. It addresses the US whistleblowers Chelsea Manning, Edward Snowden and the Australian activist, journalist and programmer Julian Assange. The work consists of life-size bronze sculptures of the three figures, four chairs and a metal plate on which the chairs stand. Three chairs hold the bronze figures, while the fourth is left empty as a symbol of comfort, a podium, or a call to take a stand. It was first presented publicly on 1 May 2015 at Alexanderplatz in Berlin. The installation later toured to several public places in Europe and beyond, including London, Sydney, Melbourne and Lugano.
May 2015 © de:WinnieSchneider · CC BY-SA 4.0
May 2015 © de:WinnieSchneider · CC BY-SA 4.0
May 2015 © de:WinnieSchneider · CC BY-SA 4.0
June 2021 © Markus Schweizer · CC BY-SA 4.0
June 2021 © Markus Schweizer · CC BY-SA 4.0
Identification | |
| Title | Anything to Say? |
| Full title | Anything to Say? - A Monument to Courage |
| Type | Travelling bronze sculpture and public art installation |
| Original title | Quelque chose à dire ? |
Creator | |
| Artist | Davide Dormino |
| Artist nationality | Italian |
Historical context | |
| Concept source | An idea by author and broadcaster Charles Glass |
| Theme | The persecution of Manning, Snowden, and Assange by the United States since the early 2010s |
| Geneva event | 30th session of the Human Rights Council |
Iconography and meaning | |
| Empty chair | A fourth empty chair intended for the spectator to stand on and speak; also described by the initiators as a comfortable seat, a pedestal for a better view and to learn more, and a first step toward courage in the face of visible threats and condemnation |
| Reason for subjects | Chosen as contemporary people who put themselves in danger in order to reveal information and shed light on hidden or misrepresented events |
| Meaning | Symbolizes the courage of whistleblowers and others who defend freedom of expression and information, and reminds the public of invasions of privacy, information control, and disinformation by governments and corporations |
| Depicted figures | Three whistleblowers who, according to the artist, lost their freedom to defend ours |
| Subject | Edward Snowden, Julian Assange, and Chelsea Manning |
| Purpose | To honor whistleblowers and defenders of freedom of expression, press freedom, and the right to know |
Physical characteristics | |
| Composition | Three life-sized bronze figures, four chairs, and a metal plate supporting the chairs |
| Number of figures | Three |
| Scale | Life-sized |
Materials | |
| Materials | Bronze and metal |
Appearance | |
| Depiction | The three figures stand on three chairs, with one chair left empty |
Location and ownership | |
| Paris display location | The square in front of the Georges Pompidou Centre, Paris |
| Paris display dates | 23 to 29 September 2015 |
| Brussels location | Place de la Monnaie, Brussels, temporarily renamed Place Julian Assange for the occasion |
| Paris inauguration date | 23 September 2015 |
| Paris inauguration participants | Dormino; Reporters Without Borders secretary-general Christophe Deloire; UBS whistleblower Stéphanie Gibaud; Luc Hermann; Marco Benagli; French actress Catherine Deneuve |
| Paris sponsors | Including Catherine Deneuve; a civil society group helped fund the project |
| Brussels supporters | The International Federation of Journalists, Carta Academica, Belgium4Assange, and ordinary citizens, journalists, artists, human rights organizations, and trade unions |
| Geneva attendees | Stella Moris, Mayor Frédérique Perler, UN Special Rapporteur on torture Nils Melzer, Dénis Masmjean (RSF-Switzerland), and other human rights advocates and citizens |
| Geneva dates | 14 to 18 September 2015 |
| Later location | Lugano, in the Swiss canton of Ticino, in October |
| Geneva stop | Place des Nations, in front of the United Nations building, Geneva |
| Initial presentation participants | Patrick Bradatsch and Davide Dormino |
| Form | Public art action and traveling installation |
| Initial presentation date | 1 May 2015 |
| Subsequent tour locations | Sydney and Melbourne, Australia |
| Initial presentation location | Alexanderplatz, Berlin |
| London presentation date | 24 June 2023 |
| London context | Presented in London, where Julian Assange was held until 25 June 2024 |
| Exhibition locations | Mainly Germany, France, and Italy; also Ptuj, Slovenia, and Belgrade, Serbia |
History and restoration | |
| Unveiling context | Unveiled as part of a private art project supported by international crowdfunding |
| Exhibition history | By the end of 2016, ten more exhibitions followed, mostly on well-known public squares as part of an art action |
| Paris address | A text by Irène Frachon, read by Catherine Deneuve |
| Renewed public actions | A renewed series of public actions started again in 2019 in Switzerland, Austria, and Belgium |
| Geneva appeal | Demands were addressed to the British authorities, all democratic states, international organizations, NGOs in Geneva, the media, and peoples |
Significance | |
| Award | Prix Éthique 2016 |
| Awarding body | Anticor |
| Award date | 2016 |
Other | |
| Supporter | Reporters Without Borders (RSF), an NGO that defends media freedom |