National Anthems (2024)

Imagine there’s no countries

Despite today’s globalization, we still structure our world and its people with national states. Despite collective ownership to the world and global principles of justice, such as determined by international organisations, each country’s internal structure gives huge differences in living conditions for its people. Within a state, principles of justice are depending on which grounds are shared among its people: politically, socially, culturally and religiously. Citizenship alone gives no guarantee for actual participation. The historical forming of a national state is not necessarily built on rational or moral virtues unique to the state, or on an internal collective affiliation. Crucial for a state to uphold existence, is its ability to realise basic moral rights. Crucial for our highest political ideal for states to coexist is to prevent boundaries from becoming barriers that sustain suppression.

A starting point for creating National Anthems was:

What can artificial intelligence, created by humans and completely lacking morals and deep-rooted cultural understanding, tell us when responding to how we present our national states? The way existing and no longer existing states are presented on Wikipedia was the source for AI learning. This AI learning is done with the help of Inga Strümke and Steffen Mæland. The result is edited and presented online at atlantispedia.art. Henrik Sundt and Anders Vinjar have helped create the meshed up melodies based upon existing anthems:

• Norland Bolis - Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, The Republic of Suriname, Uruguay, Venezuela
• Hanyst - Algeria, Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Cameroon, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe
• The Republic of the Fiolli - Albania, France, Portugal, Italy, Slovenia, Spain
• Monf Li - Norway, Sweden, Estonia, Papua New Guinea
• Handong - Tuvalu, USA, Australia, New Zealand
• Igmondero - Angola, Brazil, Cameroon, Ecuador, Guyana, Sierra Leone
• The Empire Jazzic of Neg - Yugoslavia and European countries with Alps
• Mathuna - Israel, Lebanon, Turkey, Greece, Italy, Syria, Jordan

Maja S. K. Ratkje, 2024