Hoffnungsfalter around the world
is the international participatory art project. The project explores the power of small symbols to inspire hope and human connection across borders.
About the Project
Hoffnungsfalter around the world
started on 8 November 2022 in Rome. It is a social media project currently running on several platforms — Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and LinkedIn. The goal of the project is to spread hope across the globe through Butterflies of Hope and the people who release them, and to collect answers to the question:
What gives you hope?
What is a Hoffnungsfalter?
Hoffnungsfalter - butterfly of hope
Hoffnungsfalter are symbolic bearers of hope – butterflies folded from Japanese paper using traditional origami techniques. Before folding, each sheet is artistically designed with ink, resulting in unique pat-terns. Every Hoffnungsfalter is a signed and numbered one-of-a-kind piece – a small work of art.
Project Workflow
How to take part
A project participant releases a Hoffnungsfalter (butterfly of hope) together with a letter to the finder at a location of their choice.
This moment is documented with a smartphone – as a video and photo. The participant then sends me the recordings.
I edit the material into a short video and share it on social media platforms – Instagram, TikTok, Face-book, and LinkedIn – along with the location and perhaps a brief story.
The person who finds the Hoffnungsfalter has the opportunity to get in touch with me and share their own hopes and what the butterfly means to them.
Where hope was released
Hoffnungsfalter – Landing Sites on Google Maps
As of October 24, 2025, 164 Hoffnungsfalter have been released around the world.
Photos of project participants
Die Süddeutsche Zeitung hat zum 1jährigen des Projektes über die Hoffnungsfalter und ihre Träger in die Welt berichtet.
Im Münchner Merkur ist ein Artikel am 11.12.22 von Armin Rösl zum Projekt erschienen.