Of All The People In All The World (UK) uses grains of rice to bring formally abstract statisitcs
to startling and powerful life.
Each grain of rice = one person and you are invited to compare the one grain
that is you to the millions that are not.
Over a period of days a team of performers carefully weigh out quantities of rice to represent a host of human statistics
- the populations of towns and cities
- the number of doctors, the number of soldiers
- the number of people born each day, the number who die
- all the people who have walked on the moon
- deaths in the holocaust.
The statistics are arranged
in labelled piles creating an ever changing landscape of rice. The statistics and their juxtapositions can be moving,
shocking, celebratory, witty and thought provoking.
The show adapts to its setting: the country, city and building it is in.
The amount of rice used varies according to which version is performed, Of All The People In All The World: UK is a standard small version using 1,000Kg of rice to represent 60,000,000 people. Of All The People In All The World: Europe
at 12,000Kg is an example of a medium size version. So far there has been a single presentation of Of All The People In All The World in which the whole world's population was represented by 104 tons of rice
in Stuttgart.
The show responds to the interests and suggestions of its audience. In 2004 a version of the show calledPlague Nation
was developed for use in schools focusing on epidemics and the history of vaccination. Workshops are organised around the show and for these teacher packs and student worksheets are available.
From this page you can link to images and descriptions of all presentations of the show. You can read about the origins of the show, working on the show and more about the world version
in a series of essays. Your questions may be answered in the show's own FAQ section and you have the opportunity to submit your own statistics for the show (or to read what other people
are submitting via the Stat Centre button.
"The knowledge gained is astonishing." SUEDDEUTSCHE ZEITUNG
"Part amused, part amazed, one wanders through the hall, looks marvels and understands." NEUE ZUERICHER ZEITUNG
The short promtional video below was filmed in Newcastle in June 2006
