Yet, the matchstick is her last and will only provide her with a warm glow during the cold night for a short while. As soon as the flame goes out, life leaves her body, too. Who will notice her now? For children that grow up in poverty, like this girl, that is often the question.
Child poverty is not just something you see in fairytales or faraway countries, it is also an urgent issue in the Netherlands. One in five children in Amsterdam lives in poverty - with worries and social isolation as a consequence - and the numbers are rising. To be able to talk about this topic and to actively work on solutions, artist collective Company New Heroes has started the project called ‘The Little Match Girl’. The light installation for Amsterdam Light Festival is part of this project, next to a ritual and an animation inspired by Anderson’s fairy tale, an interview series with policy makers, tips for concrete actions and charities and a final theater performance.
The light artwork, created by artist and designer Aldo Brinkhoff, consists of different fragments that complement each other from every angle, together forming the image of the girl. The ambiguity of the artwork was added on purpose: poverty has many faces. This multitude can be found in the many stickers that are attached to the girl. These are the result of an education project with 1000 primary school students from Amsterdam, organized by Company New Heroes, Juf op Straat and Amsterdam Light Festival. During a series of workshops, which revolved around the theme of child poverty, students from group 6, 7 and 8 got to work with the question: what call would you make to resolve this issue? Their ideas were translated into self-made, activism stickers. Take a look from up close and also check out meisjemet.nl to discover what you can really do, right now!
FOLLOW THE ENTIRE PROJECT HERE
