Press release -
75 years of Basic Law in the German constitution: Faber-Castell takes part in the art initiative "DNA of Democracy"
Penning the Constitution. To commemorate the 75th anniversary of Germany’s Basic Law from 1948, which forms its constitution, the DNA code of the ink of the original constitutional document has been deciphered and incorporated into the ink of the Graf von Faber-Castell collection.
Stein, June 4, 2024. Faber-Castell is commemorating the 75th anniversary of Germany’s constitutional Basic Law by supporting the art initiative DNA of Democracy. Renowned partners from the German media and creative industries launched the initiative to pay tribute to the German constitution.
The DNA of Democracy project has seen Professors Reinhard Heckel and Robert Grass from the universities ETH Zurich and TU Munich decipher the DNA of the ink used in the original Basic Law documents from 1948 into a DNA binary code. The artist Slimán López has used the DNA code in a new process to create a document-proof ink for the Graf von Faber-Castell Collection.
With each pen stroke, Faber-Castell’s ink reproduces the ink used in Germany’s Basic Law and preserves it on paper. The Graf von Faber-Castell "Carbon Black" ink produced with the DNA of Democracy initiative has been used in the Graf von Faber-Castell fountain pen Guilloche Black Edition writing instruments, which bear the laser engraving "GG" (i.e. Grundgesetz = Basic Law). The DNA of Democracy campaign was presented for the first time as part of the democracy celebrations from 24 to 26 May 2024 in Berlin.
Special Guilloche Black Edition bottles of ink and fountain pens have been made available to political dignitaries in Berlin. The first recipients were the Federal Minister of Justice, Marco Buschmann, the Federal Minister of Research & Education, Bettina Stark-Watzinger, and the Minister President of Rhineland-Palatinate, Malu Dreyer. This marked the start of a longer DNA of Democracy campaign, with further creative activations to follow.
The Basic Law is the cornerstone of coexistence in the German democratic and liberal constitutional state. Faber-Castell is proud to honor the anniversary in such an innovative and sustainable way by contributing to this unique campaign.
More information:
https://www.dna-of-democracy.de
Press Contacts:
DNA of Democracy, Daniel Koller
presse@dna-of-democracy.de
Faber-Castell:
press-office@faber-castell.com
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Faber-Castell is one of the world’s leading companies for high-quality products for writing, drawing and creative design as well as decorative cosmetic products. With more than two billion pencils and colour pencils per year and around 6,500 employees, Faber-Castell is the world’s leading manufacturer of wood-cased pencils. Nowadays the company is represented in over 120 countries and has its own production sites in 10 countries as well as sales companies in 23 countries. Founded in 1761, Faber-Castell is one of the oldest industrial companies in the world and has been owned by the same family for nine generations. The company owes its leading position on the international market to its traditional commitment to the very highest quality and the large number of product innovations. In 2022/2023, group sales amounted to 649 million euros.
