A window on rights
Ode à la liberté/Freedom Serenade by Anthony Alberti alias Mr OneTeas
Collaborative painting (“Reveal puzzle”)
2 x 2 m
Donated by the Principality of Monaco in 2024
With (in order of appearance):
Anthony Alberti alias Mr OneTeas, artist
Isabelle Berro-Amadeï, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Co-operation of Monaco, former judge at the European Court of Human Rights (2006-2012)
Marc Dimech, agent
Sound archive: HSH Prince Albert II, Sovereign Prince of Monaco
Producer: Council of Europe
Co-producer: Micro-sillons
Concept: Charlotte Roux, Antoine Auger
Authors: Charlotte Roux, Antoine Auger, Anne Kropotkine
For further information:
Anthony Alberti, Reality show. Mr OneTeas, Éditions Snoeck, 2019.
Instagram @mroneteas
Exhibition
Transcription
Opening titles: L’Atelier de l’Europe, discovering the Council of Europe’s art collection. Ode à la liberté or Freedom Serenade by Anthony Alberti alias Mr OneTeas, a collaborative painting donated by the Principality of Monaco in 2024. With Anthony Alberti alias Mr OneTeas, Isabelle Berro-Amadeï, Marc Dimech and, from the sound archives, the voice of His Serene Highness, Prince Albert II of Monaco.
HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco: Secretary General, I now have the honour and pleasure of unveiling with you the gift to the Council of Europe. It is a collaborative work of art intended as an ode to liberty and a window on rights.
Anthony Alberti: The work is called Freedom Serenade in English and Ode à la liberté in French. It’s an open window with Monaco in the background, and it’s as if we were inside Europe and Europe had decided to open the window and let Monaco in.
Isabelle Berro-Amadeï: What strikes you first are these windows that suggest openness to the world, which I think really is a feature of Monaco. For instance, there are people of over 140 nationalities living in a small territory of two square kilometres, and at the same time the openness is also in tune with the urban landscape.
Marc Dimech: Monaco, is very specific, with tall buildings on a small surface area, so it’s very high density, yet there’s also the sea.
Anthony Alberti: You have a Riviera-like view with old Belle époque wrought-iron balcony railings, along with Mediterranean vegetation.
Isabelle Berro-Amadeï: It’s a painting that depicts a view of Port Hercule, which is the principality’s historic harbour. In the background, you can also see the Tête de Chien, a 550 m high rock promontory in France that overlooks Monaco. You see vibrant colours in the middle of the picture, warm shades of red, yellow and orange, which are a good contrast to the cold but yet soothing blues.
Marc Dimech: With a whiteness, too, you know, there is La Turbie, a rock that blocks the clouds coming in, so the light is rather intense and special.
Anthony Alberti: I made a link between the blue of the sky, which could also be reflected in the sea, and, at the same time, the inside with an interplay of shadows in blue.
Anthony Alberti: There’s a dove. As you know, the releasing of doves is always symbolic.
Isabelle Berro-Amadei: To me, it’s a universal symbol of peace. And if you move in closer, you can see other symbols, for instance the scales of justice.
Anthony Alberti: There’s also the Monegasque lozenge, there are different calligraphic scripts, there are silhouettes of children, and the world is portrayed, too.
Isabelle Berro-Amadeï: And words, keywords like “human rights”, “respect” and “inclusion”.
Anthony Alberti: And “defending”, “protecting”, “together”, “democracy”, “rule of law” and so on.
Isabelle Berro-Amadeï: In my view, all these symbols are clearly values that are championed both by the Council of Europe and also by Monaco, which is a country that attaches great importance to the value of every human being, to harmony and to peace. So the Council of Europe’s three pillars of defending democracy, human rights and the rule of law are all there.
Anthony Alberti: Freedom Serenade consists of 100 pieces, so it was created by 100 people, and each small piece measures 20 cm by 20 cm, giving a final work that is 2 metres by 2 metres. It is revealed like a puzzle. A number of pieces or canvases were provided. Everyone had the same tools, namely a whole host of coloured spray paint cans on the table in front of them, and a series of stencils. Then each individual could use whichever colour and whichever stencil they liked to create their work.
Anthony Alberti: When people say to me, “but what will it look like in the end?”, I can tell them that it’s my design which I decided to highlight in white, but I can never say whether one particular square is going to be light blue or dark blue.
Anthony Alberti: And the whole point of this work is that we all exist ourselves through this little canvas and that by being together, so to speak, we create things that are greater than ourselves.
Isabelle Berro-Amadeï: I think that’s what also makes this work so special, the fact that it was a collaborative project, where everyone could make their own contribution. And the Prince was the first to contribute because he did a stencil himself before the work was donated to the Council of Europe. Then, on the spot in Strasbourg, representatives of the Council of Europe and representatives of Monaco, from both the Government and Parliament, also did stencils. And the artist assembled the various stencils to create this work that was donated on 2 October 2024 to mark the 20th anniversary of Monaco’s accession to the Council of Europe.
HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco: Ladies and Gentlemen, on 5 October 2004, I came to this historic building for the first time to sign, on behalf of my father, Prince Rainier III, Monaco’s instrument of accession to the Council of Europe. Twenty years later, we have come together again to celebrate this anniversary and reaffirm our unfailing commitment to the three pillars of the institution.
Isabelle Berro-Amadeï: The strength of the Council of Europe lies in the fact that 46 countries come together and engage in dialogue. As a diplomat, I believe in the power of multilateralism and the power of dialogue. And the strength of the Council of Europe stems from the presence of all these human beings who come from different backgrounds and different countries but are there because they are driven by these common values.
Closing credits: That was Ode à la liberté or Freedom Serenade by Anthony Alberti alias Mr OneTeas, for L’Atelier de l’Europe, a Council of Europe podcast created by Charlotte Roux, Antoine Auger and Anne Kropotkine, with the artist, Anthony Alberti alias Mr OneTeas, Isabelle Berro-Amadeï, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Co-operation of Monaco, the agent, Marc Dimech, and, from the sound archives, the voice of HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco. Other episodes are available on the Council of Europe website.
