Why?

In November 2004 the Hug the World initiative started as a streetart-project. The first poster was put up outside because it was the best way to reach a lot of people. After that we put up a poster in our window and the workshop. This made the papers and so it started... We are 'Atelier Leuke Kunst' (or roughly translated Atelier Happy Fun Art) from Alkmaar, the Netherlands.

We made the first poster because we became depressed from all the bad news and growing intolerance after the murder on Theo van Gogh in November 2004. We wanted to do something and we hope to give a positive influence on the atmosphere in the street. We think that many problems dissapear if peope are nice to each other, if they Hug the World!

So we spread handpainted posters and stickers with the message to be nice to each other. They are free. The only thing we ask are postage costs. We have painted over 1000 posters in 20 months. It started in Alkmaar and spreaded to the rest of Holland. Do you want to join us? That is possible. You can apply for a poster or paint one yourself. And send us a foto. We will put the photos on the website as soon as possible.

Hugging the World is a DIY project. You can act by donating money (we hope you will) or by buying a bunch of flowers for someone without a reason (we hope you'll do this too) but... Hugging the world does not need to cost anything! For example:
* Walk your neighbour's dog
* Let someone go first at the cash register
* Smile at the people you meet * Leave the magazine you just read in the train for someone else
* Let someone go first in traffic
And so on! It's so easy!!

We have been working on this for over a year and we are so proud of it and so happy with all the nice reactions we have gotten. We want to thank everyone for their support!

Up until August 15, 2006 we have painted all posters by hand. And now we're stopping temporarily. We are on maternity leave but will not stop the project. Thanks to Ed Wehnes from SIDR we were able to have some posters printed. Super! This means that we can keep on sending you posters...




These are the new posters that we will send you. We are very happy with these!