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A year ago, we were invited
by the Swiss Embassy in Berlin

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to present our art projects.

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We are used to invitations,
but this invitation really thrilled us.

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The Swiss Embassy in Berlin is special.

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It is the only old building
in the government district

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that was not destroyed
during the Second World War,

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and it sits right next
to the Federal Chancellery.

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No one is closer to Chancellor Merkel
than the Swiss diplomats.

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(Laughter)

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The government district in Berlin
also contains the Reichstag --

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Germany's parliament --
and the Brandenburg Gate,

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and right next to the gate
there are other embassies,

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in particular the US
and the British Embassy.

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Although Germany is an advanced democracy,

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citizens are limited
in their constitutional rights

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in its government district.

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The right of assembly and the right
to demonstrate are restricted there.

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And this is interesting
from an artistic point of view.

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The opportunities to exercise
participation and to express oneself

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are always bound to a certain order

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and always subject
to a specific regulation.

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With an awareness of the dependencies
of these regulations,

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we can gain a new perspective.

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The given terms and conditions
shape our perception, our actions

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and our lives.

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And this is crucial in another context.

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Over the last couple of years,

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we learned that from the roofs
of the US and the British Embassy,

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the secret services have been listening
to the entire district,

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including the mobile phone
of Angela Merkel.

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The antennas of the British GCHQ are
hidden in a white cylindrical radome,

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while the listening post
of the American NSA

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is covered by radio transparent screens.

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But how to address these hidden
and disguised forces?

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With my colleague, Christoph Wachter,

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we accepted the invitation
of the Swiss Embassy.

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And we used this opportunity
to exploit the specific situation.

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If people are spying on us,
it stands to reason

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that they have to listen
to what we are saying.

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(Laughter)

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On the roof of the Swiss Embassy,
we installed a series of antennas.

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They weren't as sophisticated as those
used by the Americans and the British.

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(Laughter)

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They were makeshift can antennas,

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not camouflaged but totally
obvious and visible.

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The Academy of Arts joined the project,

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and so we built another
large antenna on their rooftop,

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exactly between the listening posts
of the NSA and the GCHQ.

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(Laughter)

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Never have we been observed in such detail
while building an art installation.

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A helicopter circled over our heads

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with a camera registering
each and every move we made,

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and on the roof of the US Embassy,
security officers patrolled.

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Although the government district
is governed by a strict police order,

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there are no specific laws
relating to digital communication.

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Our installation
was therefore perfectly legal,

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and the Swiss Ambassador
informed Chancellor Merkel about it.

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We named the project "Can You Hear Me?"

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(Laughter)

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The antennas created an open
and free Wi-Fi communication network

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in which anyone who wanted to
would be able to participate

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using any Wi-Fi-enabled device
without any hindrance,

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and be able to send messages

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to those listening on the frequencies
that were being intercepted.

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Text messages, voice chat, file sharing --

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anything could be sent anonymously.

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And people did communicate.

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Over 15,000 messages were sent.

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Here are some examples.

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"Hello world, hello Berlin,
hello NSA, hello GCHQ."

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"NSA Agents, Do the Right Thing!
Blow the whistle!"

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"This is the NSA. In God we trust.
All others we track!!!!!"

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(Laughter)

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"#@nonymous is watching #NSA #GCHQ -
we are part of your organizations.

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# expect us. We will #shutdown"

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"This is the NSA's Achilles heel.
Open Networks."

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"Agents, what twisted story of yourself
will you tell your grandchildren?"

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"@NSA My neighbors are noisy.
Please send a drone strike."

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(Laughter)

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"Make Love, Not cyberwar."

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We invited the embassies
and the government departments

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to participate in the open network, too,

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and to our surprise, they did.

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Files appeared on the network,
including classified documents

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leaked from the parliamentary
investigation commission,

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which highlights that the free exchange
and discussion of vital information

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is starting to become difficult,
even for members of a parliament.

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We also organized guided tours
to experience and sound out

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the power constellations on-site.

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The tours visited the restricted zones
around the embassies,

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and we discussed the potential
and the highlights of communication.

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If we become aware of the constellation,

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the terms and conditions of communication,

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it not only broadens our horizon,

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it allows us to look behind
the regulations that limit our worldview,

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our specific social, political
or aesthetic conventions.

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Let's look at an actual example.

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The fate of people living
in the makeshift settlements

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on the outskirts of Paris

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is hidden and faded from view.

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It's a vicious circle.

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It's not poverty, not racism,
not exclusion that are new.

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What is new is how
these realities are hidden

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and how people are made invisible

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in an age of global and overwhelming
communication and exchange.

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Such makeshift settlements
are considered illegal,

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and therefore those living in them
don't have a chance

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of making their voices heard.

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On the contrary, every time they appear,
every time they risk becoming visible,

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merely gives grounds
for further persecution,

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expulsion and suppression.

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What interested us was how we could
come to know this hidden side.

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We were searching for an interface
and we found one.

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It's not a digital interface,
but a physical one: it's a hotel.

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We named the project "Hotel Gelem."

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Together with Roma families,
we created several Hotel Gelems in Europe,

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for example, in Freiburg in Germany,
in Montreuil near Paris,

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and also in the Balkans.

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These are real hotels.

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People can stay there.

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But they aren't a commercial enterprise.

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They are a symbol.

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You can go online and ask
for a personal invitation

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to come and live for a few days
in the Hotel Gelem, in their homes,

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eating, working and living
with the Roma families.

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Here, the Roma families
are not the travelers;

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the visitors are.

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Here, the Roma families
are not a minority;

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the visitors are.

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The point is not to make judgments,

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but rather to find out
about the context that determines

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these disparate and seemingly
insurmountable contradictions.

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In the world of globalization,

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the continents are drifting
closer to each other.

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Cultures, goods and people
are in permanent exchange,

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but at the same time, the gap
between the world of the privileged

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and the world of the excluded is growing.

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We were recently in Australia.

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For us, it was no problem
to enter the country.

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We have European passports,
visas and air tickets.

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But asylum seekers who arrive
by boat in Australia

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are deported or taken to prison.

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The interception of the boats

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and the disappearance of the people
into the detention system

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are veiled by the Australian authorities.

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These procedures are declared
to be secret military operations.

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After dramatic escapes
from crisis zones and war zones,

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men, women and children
are detained by Australia without trial,

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sometimes for years.

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During our stay, however,

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we managed to reach out and work
with asylum seekers who were imprisoned,

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despite strict screening and isolation.

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From these contexts was born
an installation in the art space

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of the Queensland University
of Technology in Brisbane.

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On the face of it,
it was a very simple installation.

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On the floor, a stylized compass
gave the direction

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to each immigration detention center,

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accompanied by the distance
and the name of the immigration facility.

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But the exhibition step
came in the form of connectivity.

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Above every floor marking,
there was a headset.

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Visitors were offered the opportunity
to talk directly to a refugee

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who was or had been imprisoned

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in a specific detention facility

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and engage in a personal conversation.

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In the protected context
of the art exhibition,

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asylum seekers felt free
to talk about themselves,

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their story and their situation,
without fear of consequences.

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Visitors immersed themselves
in long conversations

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about families torn apart,
about dramatic escapes from war zones,

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about suicide attempts,

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about the fate of children in detention.

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Emotions ran deep. Many wept.

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Several revisited the exhibition.

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It was a powerful experience.

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Europe is now facing a stream of migrants.

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The situation for the asylum seekers
is made worse by contradictory policies

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and the temptation
of militarized responses.

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We have also established
communication systems

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in remote refugee centers
in Switzerland and Greece.

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They are all about providing
basic information -- weather forecasts,

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legal information, guidance.

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But they are significant.

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Information on the Internet

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that could ensure survival
along dangerous routes

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is being censored,

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and the provision of such information
is becoming increasingly criminalized.

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This brings us back to our network
and to the antennas

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on the roof of the Swiss Embassy in Berlin

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and the "Can You Hear Me?" project.

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We should not take it for granted
to be boundlessly connected.

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We should start making
our own connections,

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fighting for this idea of an equal
and globally interconnected world.

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This is essential to overcome
our speechlessness

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and the separation provoked
by rival political forces.

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It is only in truly exposing ourselves

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to the transformative power
of this experience

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that we can overcome
prejudice and exclusion.

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Thank you.

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(Applause)

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Bruno Giussani: Thank you, Mathias.

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The other half of your
artistic duo is also here.

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Christoph Wachter, come onstage.

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(Applause)

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First, tell me just a detail:

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the name of the hotel
is not a random name.

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Gelem means something specific
in the Roma language.

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Mathias Jud: Yes, "Gelem, Gelem"
is the title of the Romani hymn,

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the official, and it means
"I went a long way."

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BG: That's just to add
the detail to your talk.

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But you two traveled
to the island of Lesbos

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very recently, you're just back
a couple of days ago,

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in Greece, where thousands
of refugees are arriving

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and have been arriving
over the last few months.

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What did you see there
and what did you do there?

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Christoph Wachter: Well, Lesbos is one
of the Greek islands close to Turkey,

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and during our stay,

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many asylum seekers arrived by boat
on overcrowded dinghies,

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and after landing, they were left
completely on their own.

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They are denied many services.

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For example, they are not allowed
to buy a bus ticket

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or to rent a hotel room,

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so many families literally
sleep in the streets.

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And we installed networks there
to allow basic communication,

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because I think, I believe,

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it's not only that we have to speak
about the refugees,

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I think we need to start talking to them.

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And by doing so, we can realize
that it is about human beings,

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about their lives
and their struggle to survive.

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BG: And allow them to talk as well.

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Christoph, thank you for coming to TED.

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Mathias, thank you for coming to TED
and sharing your story.

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(Applause)