"It is very important to stand up for truth and justice"

Exclusive Interview with Artist Sebastian Paul

In 2021, Sebastian Paul created a double portrait of Stella and Julian Assange for "Münzkabinett" at the Bodemuseum in Berlin.

The theme was "Closeness and Distance".

Read the exclusive interview with the artist below:

A double portrait of Stella and Julian Assange.

Thank you, Sebastian for agreeing to do this interview. Julian is Free! We wanted to do this series to honour the many incredible artists around the world who used their talents to speak up for Julian in innovative and creative ways. How do you feel about being part of this movement to free Julian? And what do you think is at this moment the most important thing you feel that you have learnt from this cause?

It is very important to stand up for truth and justice and I am very happy that there is a success in the Assange case. Even so, it is not right that Julian Assange has been convicted (Editor note: to obtain his freedom, Julian had to plead guilty to conspiracy to commit espionage for publishing evidence of war crimes and human rights abuses), but it is a very important success.

Art is a way to bring an issue into the public eye and I am very happy that
this movement exists.

The bronze medals you made of Julian and Stella were incredible and unique. Can you give us a little background of how this idea came about and what the process was like for you?

Julian’s Situation really concerned me. In 2021, I had the opportunity to apply for an exhibition at the "Münzkabinett" at the Bodemuseum in Berlin. The theme was "Closeness and Distance". It inspired me to look at the case from a private perspective, as a double portrait of Stella Moris and Julian Assange, she in freedom, he in isolation. The portrait shows the moment when he had to leave the Ecuadorian embassy.

I chose the unusual form of a shape of a hinged medal that could be joined together with 2 hinges. On the the inside were opposing concepts such as freedom - solitary confinement, freedom of
expression - isolation or enlightenment - torture.

The medal was selected for the exhibition and had a very representative place in the middle of the room. The exhibition ran throughout 2022 and into early 2023.

At the same time, I took part in an exhibition with the work at “Inspiration Käthe Kollwitz” in the Maigalerie in Berlin. There was an event with John Shipton, Julian Assange's father. Quite spontaneously, I symbolically presented him with the medal; it was simply an inner need to express my support. Some time passed before the bronze mould for Stella and Julian was finished, and I reworked the medal several times.

Julian portrait, work in progress.

Stella portrait, work in progress.

That same evening, a second important project came into being. Together with the owner of the gallery, I launched a "Free Assange" medal edition. I also reworked the medal for this too. Twenty two pieces have been cast in bronze so far, with one third of each sale going to the legal costs fund for Assange. There are only a few pieces left for sale.

What has been the response to this work of art and what would you like the public to takeaway from viewing it?

Through the participation in the exhibition at the Bodemuseum and many other exhibitions, such as "Julians Freedom Is Your Freedom" at the Salonrogue, Leipzig, "Inspiration Käthe Kollwitz", Maigalerie, Berlin or "FIDEM XXXVII", Florence, Italy, my work has become accessible to a wider public. I think that's very important, as it's about making the viewer aware of the subject matter.

In conversations about the work, I was able to share information about the Assange case. Many people who were interested in my work and Assange were not sufficiently informed about the current situation and the catastrophic prison conditions Julian was held in. It was probably because the topic had very little presence in the media in Germany.

This kind of exchange and information was an important part of my work.

Sebastian Paul is a Berlin sculptor.

His work includes works in various materialssuch as stone, bronze and cement.
In addition, he developed a graphic work ranging from drawings to lithographs and etchings.
He lives and works in Berlin Weißensee."

"The portrait medal is a small part of my work. But it has continued to grow in recent years. This is how medals were created, for example for Franz Kafka, Sophie Scholl, Georg Orwell or Leonard Cohen ."

Other works:

Left: "I´m not at home", Zink 2023. Right: "The other time, concrete", 2024

Click here for more about Sebastian Paul.