The ‘Road to Qatar’ via football, art and politics
Slovakian Artist Samuel Velebný gets us thinking about the social conditions of workers behind the backdrop of the upcoming 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Focusing on the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, this is a very interesting and powerful piece of work by Slovakian artist and designer, Samuel Velebný. In this work, Samuel is researching into the relationship between football and politics, an area many artists and designers tend to shy away from. The “Road to Qatar” is a long-term research project into the complexity and relationship the media has with football. The work reveals a powerful message about the working conditions of people building the infrastructure for the 2022 Qatar World Cup, amongst the backdrop of obscene wealth and FIFA political power. In stark contrast, the football pitch work (last picture) depicts beautiful compressed flowers, like a football meadow.
Samuel writes—
“What has once started within the physical space of rectangular lawn and social space of communities has developed into global media industry of an incalculable value and political power. Progress in football is a natural outcome of global socioeconomic structures, accelerated by media technologies of globally shared images. Thanks to them, football has gained many new functions and meanings. Game being played for joy of millions is in the same time tool of reaching political power. FIFA World cup is one of the most followed media events on the planet and in the 2022 World Cup, it will take place in deserts of Qatar, one of the richest countries in the world. Hundreds of workers from the poorest countries are dying on construction sites in Qatar in order to deliver a media spectacle that will provide Qatar with global fame, supporting the process of transformation from petrol economy into knowledge economy. “Road to Qatar” is an intermedia artistic research and activist project.”
2022 World Cup — The ‘Road to Qatar’ captivating work by Samuel Velebný
The ‘Road to Qatar’ via football, art and politics
Slovakian Artist Samuel Velebný gets us thinking about the social conditions of workers behind the backdrop of the upcoming 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Focusing on the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, this is a very interesting and powerful piece of work by Slovakian artist and designer, Samuel Velebný. In this work, Samuel is researching into the relationship between football and politics, an area many artists and designers tend to shy away from. The “Road to Qatar” is a long-term research project into the complexity and relationship the media has with football. The work reveals a powerful message about the working conditions of people building the infrastructure for the 2022 Qatar World Cup, amongst the backdrop of obscene wealth and FIFA political power. In stark contrast, the football pitch work (last picture) depicts beautiful compressed flowers, like a football meadow.
Samuel writes—
“What has once started within the physical space of rectangular lawn and social space of communities has developed into global media industry of an incalculable value and political power. Progress in football is a natural outcome of global socioeconomic structures, accelerated by media technologies of globally shared images. Thanks to them, football has gained many new functions and meanings. Game being played for joy of millions is in the same time tool of reaching political power. FIFA World cup is one of the most followed media events on the planet and in the 2022 World Cup, it will take place in deserts of Qatar, one of the richest countries in the world. Hundreds of workers from the poorest countries are dying on construction sites in Qatar in order to deliver a media spectacle that will provide Qatar with global fame, supporting the process of transformation from petrol economy into knowledge economy. “Road to Qatar” is an intermedia artistic research and activist project.”
Credits
You can see more of the work and a video piece via Samuel’s website
www.samuelvelebny.com
All work reproduced courtesy of Samuel Velebný.
Photographs © Samuel Velebný