French-Swiss artist Saype continues enthralling the world with his ambitious “Beyond Walls” project, which aims to create the largest global symbolic human chain. This project, initiated in 2019 in Paris, uses biodegradable pigments to paint massive, intertwined hands, symbolizing unity and solidarity.
Saype has chosen the Pyramids of Giza for the twentieth installment, an iconic site representing eternity. This location highlights the beauty of the ancient structures and renews the dialogue between the past and present. Saype’s eco-friendly art connects civilizations and promotes values of togetherness and mutual aid.
Regarding his project at Giza, Saype remarked, “This encounter between ephemeral art and millennia-old constructions symbolizes the continuity and interconnection of humanity through time.” His work emphasizes the importance of kindness and unity in a polarized world, using art as a bridge across cultures and epochs.
The “Beyond Walls” project has traveled to various locations, including Brazil, Japan, and South Africa, each time bringing a commentary on human connection and environmental responsibility.
French-Swiss artist Saype is continuing on his ambitious worldwide project, “Beyond Walls,” bringing it to Japan with an awe-inspiring display across multiple cities. From April 22nd to May 14th, 2023, four monumental landart paintings were painted by the artist in Okinawa, Nagasaki, Fuji, and Tokyo, forming the 17th step of this visionary endeavor.
Saype’s artworks, crafted with natural pigments derived from charcoal and chalk, are part of what he intends to be the largest human chain ever created. As the final witnesses of the 20th-century tragedies fade away, Saype endeavors here to become a spokesperson through the invitation of the United Voices movement, which aims to transmit a profound message of peace and solidarity to future generations. By symbolically painting intertwined hands traversing various locations, Saype would like to challenge the divisions of our world, urging us to embrace kindness, togetherness, and collective efforts beyond walls.
BEYOND WALLS NAGASAKI Ending the war, but at what cost? Nagasaki is both the epicenter of human madness and the incredible hope of the survivors of inhumanity. This mural, a transmission symbol, reminds us that memory is the best ally of peace.
BEYOND WALLS OKINAWA It is at the Okinawa Peace Memorial that Saype created his first Beyond Walls mural in Japan. A fragile and ephemeral work, just a few steps away from the graves of soldiers of all nationalities who fought on the only battlefield on Japanese territory. Although decades have passed since this battle, the archipelago remains of crucial strategic importance.
BEYOND WALLS FUJI It is undoubtedly the most iconic place in Japan. By marking this symbol of eternity with his ephemeral work, which sees humanity passing by its foot, Saype puts our place on Earth and our priorities into perspective.
BEYOND WALLS TOKYO It was unthinkable for Saype’s human chain not to pass through Tokyo. Here, tradition meets modernity in a cultural and human effervescence like no other. A megalopolis as serene as it is immense, Tokyo is writing history before our eyes, in the shadow of its past.
Because the photos from each installation are always so good, here is the latest installment by French-Swiss artist Saype, who is featuring his giant biodegradable landart painting on a floating barge in Venice.
The piece, part of his “Beyond Walls” global human chain, will travel in and around Venice during the Biennale Arte 2022 59th International Art Exhibition. It’s good to see that the artist is still staying true to his commitment to keeping his artworks and his materials biodegradable, unlike so many commercial products sold in stores today by multinationals that end up polluting our air, water, and soil. So many companies try to use others to “artwash” their images these days, so we know a number of artists who are acutely aware of this possibility and actively avoid it.
Now in Dubai for the Expo 2020 World Exhibition, the artist is supported by his home country of Switzerland to create this 1500 square meter image of unity. This installation, his 11th of the series, was completed on October 28th, and of course was created with biodegradable paint using charcoal, chalk, water, and milk proteins.
Three frescoes in Sea Point, Cape Town, South Africa are the latest installments of hands and arms joined with one another for the French large-scale land artist Saype.
The pieces are created in Sea Point (6000 m²), the Philippi township (800 m²) and the Langa township (800 m²) and together represent the 9th stop on his worldwide “Beyond Walls” project.
Given the crises that the world is experiencing with the Covid-19 pandemic and the historic divisions in South Africa, Saype says he chose to present a fraternal vision in these three neighborhoods of Cape Town.
Project organizers say “The current crisis reinforces Saype’s optimistic will to present these universal frescos of benevolence and togetherness,” even though he knows that it may represent, “a modest contribution to reunite a city whose historic scars have not yet healed.” Recognizing that the society is still striving to recover from the dark time of apartheid, here is an artist who is using his talents to help heal wounds.
Just finished on January 21, organizers say that the three frescoes were created using approximately 1000 liters of biodegradable pigments made out of charcoal, chalk, water and milk proteins.
This project is carried out in collaboration with the Embassy of Switzerland in South Africa, the International Public Art Festival, Baz-Art and the City of Cape Town.
“I think that we are in a moment of
humanity when the world is becoming polarized and part of the population is
choosing to withdraw into itself,” he says. So symbolically he is spraying
massive patches of grass with images of hands joined in cities across the world
– including Paris, Andorre, Geneva, Berlin, Ouagadougou, Yamoussoukro, and
Turin.
Today we take you to his latest
installation of three clasped hands in Istanbul, particularly symbolic because
it is at the precipice of so-called East and West. He says that since he would
like his monumental works to be bridges painted between cultures, the city of
Istanbul constitutes an essential stage, at the crossroads of the worlds between
the Mediterranean and the Black Sea.
“Istanbul is really on two
continents between Europe and Asia,” he says, “and it’s amazing because we’re
going to be able to connect the two here. We made three frescoes; a fresco on
the European side, a floating barge covered with grass that will cross the
Bosphorus, and a fresco on the Asian continent in Beykoz.”
The three
frescoes were created using biodegradable pigments and included one artwork at Bogazici
University (2500 m2) on the European side of the country, a second
one was created in the Beykoz district (1600 m2) on the Asian side
and the two of them were linked by an artwork painted on a floating barge in
the Golden Horn of the Bosphorus (2200 m2). Valentin Flauraud stood
in for Saype at the barge.
The work
carried out in Istanbul was benefitted by support from the Istanbul
Metropolitan Municipality, Kültür A.Ş, the Municipality of Beşiktaş, the
Boğaziçi University, the Consulate General of Switzerland, the French Institute
in Turkey and UPS.
“I am convinced that it is only
together that humanity will be able to respond to the biggest challenges it
will have to overcome them.”
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