Hamburg: Fifty round life buoys normally used to help someone from drowning have been hung on a bridge in front of the US consulate in Hamburg along with banners reading: “America, save yourself. Don’t vote for Trump.”
The action – which coincided with former US President Donald Trump’s 78th birthday – was carried out by German artist Volker-Johannes Trieb and several assistants.
The 50 life savers represent the 50 US states. Each white and red ring was labelled with concepts Trieb believes will be threatened by a second Trump term, including “peace,” “rule of law,” “women’s rights” and “freedom of belief.”
At the turn of the 20th century, Hamburg was one of the most important European emigration harbours, with hundreds of thousands boarding ships bound for America. Among them was Donald Trump’s grandfather, who left Germany for New York in 1905.
Trieb, whose birthday is also on June 14, said, “I simply had to give him this birthday present. To him and to me. The US citizens can save themselves and us from Trump’s re-election by voting for democracy on November 5.”
The artist has been focused on humanitarian and social causes for more than 30 years. With a protest action for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, he drew attention to the fatal situation of migrant workers thereby unloading 6,500 footballs filled with sand in front of the FIFA headquarters in Zurich.
–IANS