What if humanity came together to write one love letter — not to a person, but to the world itself?
The World Letter is an ongoing participatory art project founded by French-Iranian artist Cocovan. Its purpose is beautifully simple: to create a collective love letter to the world, written by people from every country, culture and walk of life.
The story began in May 2017 on a street in Berlin, Germany. Cocovan had set up a desk in a public space for what was meant to be a one-day performance, writing his own love letter to the world. Midway through, a passerby asked if he could add his own message. He wrote in Chinese beside Cocovan’s words. Soon, others joined — a Turkish man, a German couple, a Syrian family.
Within one hour, seven people from seven different countries had written seven love letters in seven different languages on the same piece of paper.
In that moment, a vision was born:
What if one person from every country in the world could sign this letter?
Since the summer of 2017, The World Letter has travelled across 6 continents and more than 50 cities, including New York City, Kathmandu, Paris, Bogotá, Kampala, Mexico City, Kyiv, Berlin and Bishkek. In each location, Cocovan sets up a desk in a public space and invites passersby to take part.
Anyone can participate in The World Letter — on only one condition: to write a love letter to the world.
As of today, more than 25,500 people have participated, writing in many different languages and representing 146 nationalities — 146 out of 195 countries of the world. The scroll itself has grown to an extraordinary 630 metres, making it the longest love letter in the world.
The World Letter brings together people from all paths of life, all backgrounds, religions, ages, political views and ethnicities — as one humanity. It is a living reminder that beyond borders and differences, there is a shared desire to express love, hope and gratitude for our planet and for each other.
The project will be complete once at least one person from every country has signed. At that point, Cocovan intends to create a digital copy of the entire scroll and send it into space — a message from humanity to the universe.
Until then, The World Letter continues to travel, grow and welcome new voices from around the world.
Because the most powerful message we can send is the one we write together.
About the Artist and Founder
Cocovan is a 37-year-old performance artist born in Paris, France, to an Iranian father and a French mother. She spent most of her twenties pursuing a career as a pop singer in the United States. After growing tired of the music industry, she began exploring performance art in public spaces in 2016, with the intention of enchanting the streets and bringing poetry into daily life — and she hasn’t looked back since.
She has performed in public spaces in more than 16 countries around the world. Cocovan has delivered a TEDx talk at Columbia University in New York City and has even given a (little) speech at the United Nations Headquarters, continuing to share her vision of art as a tool for connection, unity and hope.
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