participants in chronological order:
frank wilczek, wim wenders, oliver ligneth-dahm, berlin pupils, johannes jansen, torsten schulz, friedericke mayröcker, tetsuo kogawa, pipilotti rist, hans-jörg rheinberger, durs grünbein in collaboration with ekkehard klemm and the children's choir of the dresden singakademie (m), george tabori, phil niblock (m), leonard little finger, christoph mayer, berlin pupils, opiate (m), hetty e. verolme, uljana wolf, daniel kulla, jenny de la torre, tim staffel, reinhold messner, anna maylian (m), albert hofmann, wolfgang engler, michaël borremans, berlin pupils, eugen drewermann, adolf endler, ryuichi sakamoto (m), michael schindhelm, berlin pupils, hermann balters, dan pelleg, berlin students, berlin passers-by, robert anton wilson, berlin passers-by, oliver kray, rené beder, mathias bröckers, michael moynihan, jakob von uexkull, imre kertész, arvo pärt (m), juli zeh, mathias greffrath, jule böwe, otto e. rössler, (m) = musical contribution
messages for 2099 is a collection of messages to people in the year 2099. kai grehn and carsten nicolai spent two years recording messages in order to send a selection of them as an acoustic "message in a bottle" to the end of the 21st century. when it is opened, the two artists will in all probability no longer be alive, just like the majority of their contemporaries who are now sending their message into the future.
the future is nothing otherworldly, out of reach and beyond our imagination. the future is here, today - in fact, right behind us. a native american tradition says that all individual and collective decisions must include responsibility for the next seven generations. we too are a seventh generation and the decisions we make or don't make will affect life on this earth.
messages for 2099 was cut onto acetate discs and performed in public on 10 february 2007 in the german national library in frankfurt/main. this performance was broadcast live on the radio by hessischer rundfunk. following the original broadcast, the acetate discs were handed over to the german national library in a sealed archiving box - with the stipulation that they be performed again at this location in 2099.
seven further archiving boxes will also be added to the collections of other libraries and museums worldwide so that the piece can also be performed there in 2099. messages for 2099" was allowed to be broadcast on the radio until 1 january 2009 and will now also remain under lock and key in the radio archives until the year 2099.