page_title: Nicolaus Schmidt
section_title: Public Works
hierarchical_section_title: Nicolaus Schmidt / Public Works
caption_attribution_description: English: Scan from 2009 taken form a photograph I made 1982 in Hamburg, Germany. It shows the "Cerro Rico Aktion", a public installation I made in September at Gerhart-Hauptmann-Platz in the centre of Hamburg. I did this installation with 100.000 tin cans in cooperation with terre des hommes (Germany). This public installation in cooperation with terre des hommes (Germany) referred to the history of the Cerro Rico, famous mountain in Potosi, Bolivia. The Wiki license is only for the new scan with resolution 1160x700 px.
context_page_description: Nicolaus Schmidt is a German artist, photographer and historian. He studied at the Hamburg Art Academy in the 1970s. In 1975, he founded ROSA, one of Germany’s first gay-themed magazines. During the 1980s, he was a volunteer with the German branch of the children’s rights organization Terre des Hommes, serving for a time as its chairman. Since 1991, he has been living and making art in the Berlin neighborhood of Prenzlauer Berg.
context_section_description: In 1982, Nicolaus Schmidt created the Cerro Rico Aktion with 100,000 tin cans.  In this work, the artist created an outdoor installation inspired by his interest in Third World affairs.  Via public media, people were asked to collect tin cans so that the artist and his team could build a shining silver mountain (“Cerro Rico”) to symbolize the Bolivian mountain of the same name. This project called attention to the historical exploitation of South America’s wealth by European conquerors, and the use of child labor in the region. The Cerro Rico Aktion served as a prototype for many campaigns protesting conditions in the developing world.
  In 2008, Schmidt and Christoph Radke presented RECONSTRUCCION! (Reconstruction) at the 10th Portes Obertes in El Cabanyal/Valencia, Spain.
  With this performance/installation, the artists protested against the demolition of the architecturally and historically significant quarter.  Despite their efforts, the area was partly destroyed shortly thereafter so that a new avenue can be built in the future. The conflict is still going on (2012).
caption: Cerro Rico Aktion, Hamburg 1982
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