On 24 October 1945, the United Nations, or short UN, started its operation. After WORLD WAR II, the UN was founded to prevent future wars. The United Nations is an intergovernmental organization that connects different countries from all over the world. Currently, António Guterres represents the United Nations as Secretary-General. The UN Charter is: »peace, dignity and equality on a healthy planet«.

In the new work of the Artist Karina Funch’s »United Steps,« the artist offsets pairs of worn shoes. Originally tied to function, footwear protects our feet from environmental differences and comforts human feet. It can be dated back to 5000 BCE. Shoes have varied from culture to culture and are a representation of time.

The introduction of high-heeled shoes during the 16th century made people look taller or »larger than life«. Authority or wealth was »well-heeled«, while most citizens walked barefooted or in sandals. Louis XIV of France outlawed anybody from wearing red high heels except for himself and his royal court.

In »United Steps«, Karina Funch, from Nykøbing Sjælland, DK is investigating these aspect. Compared to countries and their borders, the crowd of shoes represents the individual. How to be united in the world and not lose our cultural uniqueness?

Karina Funch’s »United Steps« raises questions with a transformative act. Each pair went through a whitening process, reducing the individual style to a minimum and stripping it down to substance. In her reflection, the selected and neutralized shoes – represent individual people of individual counties. In »United Steps«, there are no precise demographic or regional borders. It is a declaration of culture. It is a deposition to the differences and finding a way to appreciate each other.

On top of the shoes, Glitter celebrates cultural individuality worldwide, and »United Steps« is her testimony to »peace, dignity, and equality«.