Is there a better way to start the week than starting it with a bit of complaining? I wish not to focus here on its often-associated negative effects, but to look at complaining as a fundamental human right. That’s exactly what Finish artist Tellervo Kalleinen thought a few years ago when she was taking a walk on a harsh and cold Helsinki winter day. Reflecting on the possibility of transforming the energy spent on complaining into something else, she came up with the idea of establishing Complaint Choirs. The project can be organized in any city of the world, but started in Birmingham (“the arsehole of England”, say some), its result to be watched in this video. The idea is to collect complaints, find a composer who transforms them into a simple song, establish a choir and go out to perform it. The effect is heartwarming and liberating, an instant hit! After Birmingham, many other cities in the world followed, most recently Chicago. It is pretty easy to start one yourself, I’d say: go for it!

Here for the project website.
Here for instructions to start one of your own.

This entry was posted on Monday, November 19th, 2007 at 11:19 am and is filed under Arts, Health, Media, Movements, Videos. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.