Inside Out, the People’s Art Project started in 2011 after founder JR, a Paris/NYC based street artist, won the TED Prize and was asked to state one thing he would like to do to encourage positive change in the world. 

His answer was to “use art to turn the world inside out,” something he’d already been doing through his personal work, and it’s what he’s been enabling others around the world to also do since.

Inside Out invites participants to gather five or more people around a single statement or theme and to take their photographic portraits, as inspired by that idea. The group then submit the portraits to Inside Out, who print the photos as posters and return them to the group to exhibit on the streets of their community.

It’s a simple yet powerful project that nearly 200,000 people from more than 112 countries and territories have participated in so far, from Tunisia to Western Australia to Tel Aviv. Themes have included peace, education, gender equality, protecting the Arctic and plenty more.

Inside Out is open to participants from all over the world, so if you have an idea for a group action, don’t hesitate to find out more.

Here’s the talk that started it all:

For more on Inside Out go to www.insideoutproject.net. For more on JR go to www.jr-art.net, or follow him on Instagram (@jr).