The design is accurate. A large façade, two floors, a small staircase and a covered entrance - it all looks like real accommodation in southern Europe. But a second glance reveals a crucial difference. The Save The World Hotel is made from plastic bottles, cans, old tires and even an exhaust pipe - in total, several tons of garbage washed up on the beach. The artist HA Schult created this sculpture. He intends to use it for a special event at the Circular Valley Forum in Wuppertal on November 15. Exactly how it will look remains a secret until the big meeting of the circular economy.

HA Schult is continuing his commitment to the environment with this campaign. “Since we artists, a handful worldwide, took up the issue of ecological imbalance in the 1960s, society's awareness of it has changed radically. But knowing about it is not doing something about it.” In the artist's view, the Circular Valley Forum is the perfect place to bring about change. “Nowhere else do I see the “reversal of values” better illustrated than in the work of the Circular Valley Forum and I dedicate this year's "Save The World Hotel" to it. The waste of the oceans needs to be re-sorted in the minds of the global community.”

HA Schult is sure to have an audience to match. More than 1,200 decision-makers from politics, business, science and society are expected to attend the Circular Valley Forum at the Historische Stadthalle Wuppertal. They will discuss current challenges and new solutions in the circular economy. An important feature of the meeting is that it will focus on very specific projects and collaborations between companies and regions. They all have their origins in Circular Valley.

The guest list for the forum includes Federal Environment Minister Steffi Lemke, Sarah Ryglewski, Minister of State in the Chancellery, NRW Ministers Mona Neubaur, Nathanael Liminski and Karl-Josef Laumann, Prof. Raimund Bleischwitz, Director of the Leibnitz Centre for Tropical Marine Research and numerous representatives from DAX companies and innovative SMEs. In addition, 18 start-ups from six continents will present their business models for the transformation from a linear to a circular economy.

HA Schult demonstrated the impact art can have on decision-makers at the first Circular Valley Forum 2022. Back then, he placed about 270 of his Trash People throughout the building. These figures made of garbage weigh 40 kilograms, which is the average amount of waste a single person produces every day. They had already been placed at the Great Wall of China, at the pyramids and on the Red Square in Moscow. The artist's message at the time was clear and compelling: “If we don't change the world, it will change us,” he said. “Check the thing you want to throw away and don't betray it.”

Information for editorial offices

If you would like to attend the Circular Valley Forum and report on it, please register here.

The photo shows the hotel made of waste at Castel Sant'Angelo in Rome. The image can be used free of charge for reporting on HA Schult's art campaign at the Circular Valley Forum on November 15. Mandatory source reference: “Photo: Thomas Hoepker”