The world is changing at lightning speed. We build, renew, and keep on dreaming. Cities grow into living organisms of concrete, glass, and green. Everything around us once began with an idea, a sketch on paper, a thought in someone’s mind. Big plans are often made by grown-up experts: architects, designers, engineers. They are the ones who draw the lines of the future.
But what if children stepped into the shoes of these master builders? What would the world look like through the eyes of the youngest dreamers? Would we picnic under cotton candy trees and travel on flying carpets? Perhaps houses would be shaped like Minecraft creations, and every car and highway would be replaced by skate lanes.
In Dream Town, the light installation by Hugo Vrijdag, that is exactly what happens. Thousands of children from all over the world become the builders of the future. With pencils, paint, or markers they design their dream homes, and with them their ideal city. Maybe one day we will float in hot air balloons between rainbow towers, or see every wall covered with flowers. Maybe the houses of the future will not stand still on the ground at all, but move up and down to a brand new rhythm. It is a city that has never existed before.
Dream Town shows that the imagination of children is boundless and immensely valuable. In schools, at daycare centers, and around kitchen tables, children are building a world where anything is possible. Every child contributes, every design matters, every idea is right, because a dream can never be wrong.
During GLOW this city comes to life. For eight evenings visitors can wander through Dream Town, a city of light, color, and hope. And not only in the Van Abbemuseum in Eindhoven does this world of children’s dreams take on a special place. In Best (Town Hall), Oirschot (Museum de Vier Quartieren), Helmond, Lieshout and Veldhoven (St. Caecilia Church) these dream worlds can also be discovered, as visitors walk through countless neighborhoods full of ideas and wishes.
All children around the world can take part in Dream Town. Whether from a school abroad or a kitchen table far away, dreaming about the future is for everyone. Draw your dream house, dream transport, or dream artwork and upload it through the online gallery below. Together we will create neighborhoods of global Dream Towns. Artist Hugo Vrijdag will browse through all the submitted drawings and select some to be included in the physical light installation during GLOW in Eindhoven, as well as in Best, Oirschot, Helmond, Lieshout and Veldhoven. Your drawing might just be chosen, no matter where in the world you created it.
Can’t get enough of dreaming about the city of the future? Then order the book The Inventors of Dream Town by Hugo Vrijdag below and read the full story!
About the artist
Hugo Vrijdag (1970) graduated from the Design Academy Eindhoven. As a visual artist and designer, he combines his fascination with technology and storytelling. He writes stories that are turned into films, in which the props he designs take center stage. Over the years, Hugo Vrijdag has created public artworks and light installations for previous editions of GLOW, including the projects ‘Vogels’ and ‘Sunflowers for Van Gogh’.
GLOW KIDS
GLOW aims to raise children’s awareness of their role on this planet in an accessible way. By reaching children at a young age, a process is set in motion that contributes both on a personal level and to society as a whole. Through its education program for children, GLOW highlights not only the value of art but also the importance of caring for the environment. By engaging children with art while emphasizing sustainability, they are encouraged to think actively about their impact on the world and inspired to contribute to positive change. In this way, GLOW hopes to help shape a generation committed to a more sustainable future.
GLOW Eindhoven exists thanks to special collaborations and tailor-made partnerships
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