Wort für Wort

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is one of humanity’s most significant manifestos. It sets out fundamental principles that apply to everyone, regardless of origin, gender, religion or place of residence. In his project “word for word – a complete recitation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights”, Gerhard Rühm transforms the document’s 30 articles into a polyphonic listening experience. In 2025, well over 1,000 participants gathered in front of Vienna’s Volkstheater to speak the declaration, adopted almost 78 years ago, word by word into a microphone – with each individual word spoken by a different person. Joined together, these voices form a continuous soundscape of around 30 minutes, in which every word acquires its own timbre, pitch and volume. A shared text, spoken by many people, becomes a powerful appeal for human dignity, democracy and the universal validity of human rights. As part of the opening festival, the sound installation can be heard continuously in the AGORA at Schauspielhaus.