The original idea for the Breathe project came about in the summer of 1999 and Breathe-1 was presented in October the same year. Initially fifteen contemporary artists from Sweden with international contacts were engaged; composers, visual artists and writers etc. In collaboration with the committee of the project they were asked to invite the international artists they had chosen, through forwarding an invitation via E-mail. Called for in a short period of time and with a very limited budget, fifty artists from all over the world came to participate.
Breathe-1 was a first breathing-in - an inhalation. The foreign artists who were invited contributed by choosing from their own production and the quality was guaranteed through the contact persons competence and professionalism. Works of art from all over the world were sent to Sweden via Internet, for example sound and audio files, but also trough regular mail; paintings, CDs, books, videos etc.
In the evening of October 23 on the Atalante stage in Göteborg, poetry was read, widescreen videos were shown and performances were made. Music from composers worldwide were played from scores and CDs, through a telephone line hooked up to artists in Berlin, San Francisco and London, as their works were presented to their respective local audiences.
The following week there was an exhibition at Glashuset at Valand Art School, Göteborg with videos, installations, photography, poetry, music, conceptual art etc.
