0:00:00.883,0:00:03.809
A year ago, we were invited[br]by the Swiss embassy in Berlin

0:00:03.809,0:00:06.781
to present our art projects.

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We are used to invitations,[br]but this invitation really thrilled us.

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The Swiss embassy in Berlin is special.

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It is the only old building[br]in the government district

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that was not destroyed[br]during the Second World War,

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and it sits right next[br]to the Federal Chancellery.

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No one is closer to Chancellor Merkel[br]than the Swiss diplomats.

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(Laughter)

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The government district in Berlin[br]also contains the Reichstag --

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Germany's parliament --[br]and the Brandenburg Gate,

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and right next to the gate[br]there are other embassies,

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in particular the U.S.[br]and the British embassy.

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Although Germany[br]is an advanced democracy,

0:00:47.948,0:00:50.874
citizens are limited[br]in their constitutional rights

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in its government district.

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The right of assembly and the right[br]to demonstrate are restricted there.

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And this is interesting[br]from an artistic point of view.

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The opportunities to exercise[br]participation and to express oneself

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are always bound to a certain order

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and always subject[br]to a specific regulation.

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With an awareness[br]of the dependencies of these regulations,

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we can gain a new perspective.

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The given terms and conditions[br]shape our perception, our actions,

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and our lives.

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And this is crucial in another context.

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Over the last couple of years,

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we learned that from the roofs[br]of the U.S. and the British embassy,

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the secret services have been listening[br]to the entire district,

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including the mobile phone[br]of Angela Merkel.

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The antennas of the British GCHQ[br]are hidden in the white cylindrical ??.

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By the listening post of the American NSA[br]is covered by radio transparent screens.

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But how to address these hidden[br]and disguised forces?

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With my colleague Christoph Wachter,

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we accepted the invitation[br]of the Swiss embassy,

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and we used this opportunity[br]to exploit the specific situation.

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If people are spying on us,[br]it stands to reason

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that they have to listen[br]to what we are saying.

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(Laughter)

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On the roof of the Swiss embassy,[br]we installed a series of antennas.

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They weren't as sophisticated as those[br]used by the Americans and the British.

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They were makeshift ????? antennas,[br]not camouflaged but totally obvious

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and visible.

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The Academy of Arts joined the project,

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and so we built another large antenna[br]on their rooftop

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exactly between the listening posts[br]of the NSA and the GCHQ.

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(Laughter)

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Never have we been observed in such detail[br]while building an art installation.

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A helicopter circled over our heads

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with a camera registering[br]each and every move we made,

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and on the roof of the U.S. embassy,[br]security officers patrolled.

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Although the government district

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is governed by a strict police order,

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there are no specific laws[br]relating to digital communication.

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Our installation[br]was therefore perfectly legal,

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and the Swiss Ambassador[br]informed Chancellor Merkel about it.

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We named the project[br]"Can You Hear Me?"

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(Laughter)

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The antennas created an open[br]and free wifi communication network

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in which anyone who wanted to[br]would be able to participate

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using any wifi-enabled device[br]without any hindrance,

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and be able to send messages[br]to those listening

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on the frequencies[br]that were being intercepted.

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Text messages, voice chat, file sharing:

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anything could be sent anonymously.

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And people did communicate.

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Over 15,000 messages were sent.

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Here are some examples.

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"Hello world, hello Berlin,[br]hello NSA, hello GCHQ."

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"NSA Agents, Do the Right Thing![br]Blow the whistle!"

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"This is the NSA. In God we trust.[br]All others we track!!!!!"

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(Laughter)

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"#@nonymous is watching #NSA #GCHQ -[br]we are part of our organizations.

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#expect us. We will #shutdown"

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"This is the NSA's Achilles heel.[br]Open Networks."

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"Agents, what twisted story of yourself[br]will you tell your grandchildren?"

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"@NSA My neighbors are noisy.[br]Please send a drone strike."

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(Laughter)

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"Make Love, Not cyberwar."

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We invited the embassies[br]and the government departments

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to participate in the open network too,

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and to our surprise, they did.

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Files appeared on the network,[br]including classified documents

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leaked from the parliamentary[br]investigation commission,

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which highlights that the free exchange[br]and discussion of vital information

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is starting to become difficult,[br]even for members of our parliament.

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We also organized guided tours[br]to experience and sound out

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the power constellations on site.

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The tours visited the restricted zones[br]around the embassies,

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and we discussed the potential[br]and the highlights of communication.

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If we become aware of the constellation,

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the terms and conditions of communication,

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it not only broadens our horizon,

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it allows us to look behind[br]the regulations that limit our worldview,

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our specific, social, political,[br]or aesthetic conventions.

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Let's look at an actual example.

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The fate of people living[br]in the makeshift settlements

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on the outskirts of Paris[br]is hidden and faded from view.

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It's a vicious circle.

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It's not poverty, not racism,[br]not exclusion that are new.

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What is new is how[br]these realities are hidden

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and how people are made invisible[br]in an age of actually global

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and overwhelming[br]communication and exchange.

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Such makeshift settlements[br]are considered illegal,

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and therefore those living in them

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don't have a chance[br]of making their voices heard.

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On the contrary, every time they appear,[br]every time they risk becoming visible,

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merely gives grounds[br]for further persecution,

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expulsion, and suppression.

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What interested us is how we could[br]come to know this hidden side.

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We were searching for an interface,[br]and we found one.

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It's not a digital interface,[br]but a physical one: it's a hotel.

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We named the project Hotel Gelem.

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Together with Roma families,[br]we created several Hotel Gelems in Europe,

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for example in Freiburg in Germany,[br]in Montreuil near Paris,

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and also in the Balkans.

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These are real hotels.

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People can stay there.

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But they aren't a commercial enterprise.

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They are a symbol.

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You can go online

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and ask for a personal invitation[br]to come and live for a few days

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in the Hotel Gelem, in their homes.

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eating, working, and living[br]with the Roma families.

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Here, the Roma families[br]are not the travelers,

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the visitors are.

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Here, the Roma families[br]are not a minority,

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the visitors are.

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The point is not to make judgments

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but rather to find out about the context[br]that determines these disparate

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and seemingly insurmountable[br]contradictions.

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In the world of globalization,

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the continents are drifting[br]closer to each other.

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Cultures, goods, and people[br]are in permanent exchange,

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but at the same time, the gap[br]between the world of the privileged

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and the world of the excluded is growing.

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We were recently in Australia.

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For us, it was no problem[br]to enter the country.

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We have European passports,[br]visas, and air tickets.

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But asylum seekers who arrive[br]by boat in Australia

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are deported or taken to prison.

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The interception of the boats

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and the disappearance of the people[br]into the detention system

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are veiled by the Australian authorities.

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These procedures are declared[br]to be secret military operations.

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After dramatic escapes[br]from crisis zones and war zones,

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men, women, and children[br]are detained by Australia without trial,

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sometimes for years.

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During our stay, however,

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we managed to reach out and work[br]with asylum seekers who were imprisoned,

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despite strict screening and isolation.

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From these contexts was born[br]an installation in the art space

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of the Queensland University[br]of Technology in Brisbane.

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On the face of it,[br]it was a very simple installation.

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On the floor, a stylized compass[br]gave the direction

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to each immigration detention center,

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accompanied by the distance[br]and the name of the immigration facility.

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But the exhibition step[br]came in the form of connectivity.

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Above every floor marking,[br]there was a headset.

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Visitors were offered the opportunity[br]to talk directly to a refugee

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who was or had been imprisoned

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in a specific detention facility

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and engage in a personal conversation.

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In the protected context[br]of the art exhibition,

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asylum seekers felt free[br]to talk about themselves,

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their story, and their situation[br]without fear of consequences.

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Visitors immersed themselves[br]in long conversations

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about families torn apart,[br]about dramatic escapes from war zones,

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about suicide attempts,

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about the fate of children in detention.

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Emotions ran deep. Many wept.

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Several revisited the exhibition.

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It was a powerful experience.

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Europe is now facing a stream of migrants.

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The situation for the asylum seekers[br]is made worse by contradictory policies

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and the temptation[br]of militarized responses.

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We have established[br]communication systems also

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in remote refugee centers[br]in Switzerland and Greece.

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They are all about providing[br]basic information --

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medical costs,[br]legal information, guidance --

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but they are significant.

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Information on the Internet[br]that could ensure survival

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along dangerous routes is being censored,

0:10:18.590,0:10:24.534
and the provision of such information[br]is becoming increasingly criminalized.

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This brings us back to our network[br]and to the antennas

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on the roof of the Swiss embassy in Berlin

0:10:29.991,0:10:32.452
and the "Can You Hear Me?" project.

0:10:32.452,0:10:35.981
We should not take it for granted[br]to be boundlessly connected.

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We should start making[br]our own connections,

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fighting for this idea of an equal[br]and globally interconnected world.

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This is essential to overcome[br]our speechlessness

0:10:45.487,0:10:48.784
and the separation provoked[br]by rival political forces.

0:10:48.784,0:10:52.012
It is only in truly exposing ourselves

0:10:52.012,0:10:54.566
to the transformative power[br]of this experience

0:10:54.566,0:10:58.118
that we can overcome prejudice[br]and exclusion.

0:10:58.118,0:10:59.976
Thank you.

0:10:59.976,0:11:03.960
(Applause)

0:11:03.960,0:11:06.152
Moderator: Thank you Mathias.

0:11:06.152,0:11:08.103
The other half of your[br]artistic duo is also here.

0:11:08.103,0:11:10.239
Christoph Wachter, come on stage.

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(Applause)

0:11:15.045,0:11:17.112
First tell me just a detail:

0:11:17.112,0:11:19.341
the name of the hotel[br]is not a random name.

0:11:19.341,0:11:22.336
Gelem means something specific[br]in the Roma language.

0:11:22.336,0:11:27.607
Mathias Jud: Yes, "Gelem Gelem"[br]is the title of the Romany hymn,

0:11:27.607,0:11:30.671
the official, and it means[br]"I went a long way."

0:11:30.671,0:11:32.970
Moderator: That's just to add[br]the detail to your talk,

0:11:32.970,0:11:36.383
but you two traveled to the island[br]of Lesbos very recently --

0:11:36.383,0:11:38.171
you're just back a couple of days ago --

0:11:38.171,0:11:41.724
in Greece, where thousands of refugees[br]are arriving and have been arriving

0:11:41.724,0:11:43.488
over the last few months.

0:11:43.488,0:11:45.903
What did you see there[br]and what did you do there?

0:11:45.903,0:11:49.502
Christoph Wachter: Well, Lesbos is one[br]of the Greek islands close to Turkey,

0:11:49.502,0:11:56.584
and during our stay, many asylum seekers[br]arrived by boat on overcrowded dinghies,

0:11:56.584,0:11:59.904
and after landing, they were left[br]completely on their own.

0:11:59.904,0:12:04.107
They are denied many services.

0:12:04.107,0:12:07.845
For example, they are not allowed to buy[br]a bus ticket or to rent a hotel room,

0:12:07.845,0:12:12.326
so many families literally[br]sleep in the streets.

0:12:12.326,0:12:16.900
And we installed networks there[br]to allow basic communication,

0:12:16.900,0:12:19.617
because I think, I believe,

0:12:19.617,0:12:25.050
it's not only that we have to speak[br]about the refugees.

0:12:25.050,0:12:28.673
I think we need to start talking to them,

0:12:28.673,0:12:32.550
and by doing so, we can realize[br]that it is about human beings,

0:12:32.550,0:12:35.151
about their lives[br]and their struggle to survive.

0:12:35.151,0:12:37.055
Moderator: And allow them to talk as well.

0:12:37.055,0:12:39.469
Christoph, thank you for coming to TED.

0:12:39.469,0:12:42.000
Mathias, thank you for coming to TED[br]and sharing your story.

0:12:42.000,0:12:43.634
(Applause)