The People Behind The Financial System is an artwork by They Are Here comprised of informal encounters between 20 individuals working in the financial sector and the wider public, co-financed by GEDB, taking place in Stockholm 25 November.

Activities

The People Behind The Financial System is an artwork by They Are Here comprised of informal encounters between 20 individuals working in the financial sector and the wider public, co-financed by GEDB, taking place in Stockholm 25 November.

The artists seek to instigate an open environment of idea exchange, democratising the specialist knowledge and hidden transactions within the financial system that impact us all.

GEDB researchers took part in the planning process, suggesting speakers and topics and GEDB executive director Beatrice Crona explains why GEDB is part of this artwork:

“The finance sector has a huge impact on society, nature and people’s lives, but still, knowledge about how it operates is very limited if you are not part of this sector. Research projects within GEDB are exploring links between the financial system (i.e financial actors, institutions, flows and instruments) and the Earth’s climate and ecosystems, which in turn affect societies. This art project offers a complement to research in narrowing the knowledge gaps. I also think collaborating with artists is an opportunity for us as researchers’ to develop new understanding and skills to interact with different actors in society.”

Over a two hour period, attendees of The People Behind The Financial System are invited to engage in ten conversations of their choice, each lasting 10 minutes. These 20 representatives range from a former Member of the European Parliament and bank CEO to a venture capitalist, algorithm coder and bank note engraver.

Dialogue forms the focal point of the piece. It allows an intimate exchange of subjective views and personal perspectives on finance, amongst a plurality of voices from individuals who would not have met otherwise – perhaps never in this one-to-one, time-bound and focused form of communication

Read more about the event and the artists behind it here