SADAT LECTURE FOR PEACE

ART  FOR   PEACE

The Sadat Art for Peace Competition is sponsored by Suzanne F. Cohen in memory of her late husband Nathan L. Cohen, LAW '69

This competition selects the best artwork depicting the theme of peace and reconciliation, and is held in conjunction with the annual Sadat Lecture for Peace.

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***Art for Peace 2013 Competition***

The winners for the 2013 Sadat Art for Peace Competition "Toleration and Peace" are:

Neal Flynn - first prize for " Momentum"

Category : 2 Dimensional

Media : Ink on paper

When two objects of unequal mass move towards each other they collide and then move apart again coexist.

Max Neumann - first prize for " A World Bound Forever"

Category : 3 Dimensional

Media : Aluminum and rope

We live in a world that often feels unstable and on the verge of unraveling like a rope. It may not be the most beautiful thing, but it will always be your home. To strengthen our home, we need a foundation of peace and tolerance. However, to achieve real strength and beauty, tolerance is not enough. Tolerance is “the capacity to endure.” We also need acceptance, “the favorable reception of an idea, opinion or belief.” We have the potential to make our entire world amazing and that will require acceptance, support, and love of all who inhabit its home. Acceptance of those around us is the treasure we so desperately need to allow our world to shine bright. This globe is made from rope and casted aluminum. The aluminum and its shine represent the potential beauty that our world possesses and the treasure that it is. The rope signifies that despite our cultural, theological and philosophical differences we are bound together in our responsibility to protect our planet, and it reminds us that we must be united to achieve peace and tolerance or we may unravel and fall apart.

***Art for Peace 2012 Competition***

The winners for the 2012 Sadat Art for Peace Competition "Dignity" are:

Jason Hughes - first prize for "Another Day, Another Dollar"

Category : 2 Dimensional

Media : American Currency

Since 2007, I have been weaving with shredded money as a means to explore the ideas of labor, value, and self-worth. For many people, dignity is achieved through the work that they do; the ability to provide for their loved ones, honor through contributing to the betterment of society, or simply pride because of a job well done. My highly crafted and meticulous works not only illustrate a painstaking process, but they also highlight the disparity between skilled labor and industry in the United States. If there are no jobs for people to find strength through, then the social fabric begins to erode and individuals lose hope for what the future may hold. A fundamental shift must take place within the United States that will move us away from the ongoing devaluation of skilled labor and industry, towards self-empowerment and dignity through hard work, education, and sense of purpose.

Mark Earnhart - first prize for "Tangible"

Category : 3 Dimensional

Media : Bronze, Leather

Dignity isn’t something tangible, easily defined or readily apparent without negative circumstance. It is most often spoken about when something has been stripped away by overwhelming forces. It is the ideal, the thing that doesn’t need to be defined, until it is in peril of being discovered missing. Dignity is intentionally ambiguous, evoking decency, rights and respect. In a just world this concept would not need to be regulated, it would simply exist. The sculpture “Tangible” is a visual affirmation of a moment where dignity is on the verge of being lost. The form of a sandwich refers to the layering of what constitutes dignity, the sum of its parts. It is also about human sustenance, hand to hand connected interaction and the weight of disparaging global circumstance.

***Art for Peace 2011 Competition***

The winners for the 2011 Sadat Art for Peace Competition "Heeding The Voice Of The People" are:

Fawna Xiao - first prize for "One and Two"

Category : 2 Dimensional

Media : Screen Print

Peace is a from of balance. This balance is at it's most fragile and important when between a people and its leader. It realies on the power that the people invests in the leader, and the leader heeding the voice of the people.

I created two elements within one space; one is the absence of the other. They can be two characters, two countries, or two ideas. They exist simultaneously -- two creatures living in peace, despite their differences. I created them to be unequal, but still balanced, like any relationship between a leader and his or her people. One man leading a country is balanced against the entire population of his country. Such is the relationship between the two elements in the print. One is the voice of the people -- and one is the listener.

Jesse Burrowes - first prize for "Ear-Horn"

Category : 3 Dimensional

Media : Metal and Rubber

Heeding the voice of the people is the never-ending task of political figures. The voice itself is an amalgamation different wills and impulses that have been spun and pressed to fit into the broad themes of cultural moralities. Listening is a public action, and the test of effective leadership is the ability to cull from the cacophony of mediatized voices and find the pulse of public expression. Given the global political events of the past few months, the declarations of the public in some countries have been so articulate it is hard to see how these pronouncements could be repressed. Sometimes stated terms become so unanimous that they are impossible to ignore.

This object is an old squeezable automobile horn of which the bell has been replaced with an ear. The irony of a listening device that produces an alarming honk represents the compromised call and response of political dialogue. This object is functional as a facilitator to the public act of hearing in the traditions of an expressive hoot. It is an exclamation point that can be added to any sentiment, it could be aggressive and poignant. This device may also be used to help wake some powerful people who may have nodded off.

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***Art for Peace 2010 Competition***

The winners for the 2010 Sadat Art for Peace Competition are:

Sarah Martin - first prize for "Baquba"

Category : 2 Dimensional

Media : Painting

“Peace is inextricably linked to collaboration and sweat and sacrifice. People surrender parts of themselves, like the ingredients to a balm, and the mediation between these ingredients synergizes into a force of will that is greater than the summation of its parts. It can’t  be achieved by one person alone. In Iraq, car bombers target voting stations, hoping to squash the foundations of peace. Al-Qaeda threatens to murder anyone who goes to vote. And still, one by one, Iraqis dip their fingertips in ink after casting a ballot, symbolically adding their small measure of hope to the mix: less than an inch of flesh, a smudge of faith, everyman’s duty in the tip of a finger.

    This piece is charcoal, graphite, and acrylic paint on paper. During the process of making Baquba, I noticed my own fingers turn black with charcoal dust. I wanted to document the marks so I laid out strips of packing tape and blotted the black stains from my hands. These layers of fingerprints and skin cells are then laid like a film over the work, a self-made membrane that documents an intimate sacrifice in order to create something larger, more complete.”

JL Stewart Watson - first prize for "Mediated"

Category : 3 Dimensional

Media : Sculpture - Bronze, Linen, Down Feathers

“ Even when opposing countries want to come to a peaceful solution to their problems, the infrastructure by which they operate can make these meetings difficult or impossible. In these situations, mediators can be the most important resource.

       The bronze and feather down filled mediums of this sculpture refer to the different tactics by which countries and their citizens communicate internationally. Some countries in the midst of negotiations are static and unable to compromise. Others, that are soft and malleable, can find their concerns crushed under the weight of bigger, more powerful nations.

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***Art for Peace 2009 Competition***

Samuel Moore - first prize for "Unity"

Category : 3 Dimensional

Media : Sculpture - Bronze cast

“This casting represents the difference in foreign policy that the United States will see over the next four years with its two distinct halves. The war on terror has proved to be a tough fight. While former President Bush did what he saw was best for the American people, the war has mostly bred insurgency and animosity towards the United States. Obama’s foreign policy will revitalize relations in the Middle East, bringing a more orderly and joint effort to combat terror. The geometric base of this piece represents this solid joint effort. While the bottom of this piece represents order and unity, the top represents the freedom that comes from solidarity. The top needs the support of the base, just as the freedom that Obama wishes to provide will fall without a renewed relationship with our global partners. This piece is not strictly about the Middle East. It is a global piece, representing the same unity and freedom throughout the world. During the Bush era, America became a target of criticism by not only our enemies, but our allies as well.  The Obama administration seeks to solve this and try to regain the good standing that America once had. It is only through joint cooperation that Obama will be able to support the freedom that the world desires.”

Malena Barnhart - first prize for "Interaction"

Category : 2 Dimensional

Media : Painting - Latex Paint, Soft gel, Photographic transfers, India Ink

“Foreign policy during the Obama administration seems to be moving away from the aggression and isolation that has stigmatized the United States during the last eight years.  This piece is meant to evoke the magnitude of the task that the administration now approaches.”

***Art for Peace 2008 Competiton*** (powerpoint)

The winners for the 2004 competition in conjunction with the Sadat Lecture for Peace delivered by former President of Ireland Mary Robinson are:

Cal A. Lee – first prize for sculpture, "Battle Rattles"

These rattles were conceived form my own experience with war and conflict; my Grandfather's tales of serving in World War II; my Father, who deployed for his second tour of duty in Vietnam shortly after my birth; and my own deployment 25 years later for the conflict in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

I present these rattles not only to all the children who have lost a parent to war or who wait for one to return home, but also, to those who live daily with the terror of war and those who live in its remnants.

So, while these rattles were born from and speak of conflict, let them speak more loudly of hope in that same breath.

Tai Hwa Goh – first prize for 2-dimensional work, "Getting Dark"

The more devices (such as weapons) are created and developed to make peaceful world, the more our world gets unmerciful and destructed.  The more powerful shields are created, the stronger spears and mutated monsters will be born.  Men will not stop it until we get mortality.  Every effort to make our world bright is maybe making the world darker.  What can we do?  Is it the only thing we can do to accept our darkness?

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The winners for the 2002 competition in conjunction with the Sadat Lecture for Peace delivered by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan on November 13, 2002 are:

Ruth Bowler - first prize for 2-dimensional work, "Overlap":

When I think of peace, I am unconsciously drawn to a distinct space.  I call this space overlap.  It is the moment after we realize each other's differences and the moment before we decide what to do with them.  In this fluid, negotiable space, the possibility of peace exists.

Marilee Schumann - first prize for sculpture, "First Stone"

Perhaps stone was the first weapon to be used by humans.  Even now stones are thrown at soldiers and police in Northern Ireland and in Palestine.  Stones are still thrown to punish and kill women in some countries.

If the stone is the first weapon, let us bury the stone in layers of meaning and pages of words, in art and poetry, in all the wrappings and trappings of human culture, until stones are no longer weapons, but the subject and the object of works of art, the material of building and of rebuilding what has been destroyed.

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                       The winners for the 2001 competition in conjunction with the Sadat Lecture for Peace delivered by Nelson Mandela, Former President, The Republic of South Africa, November 14, 2001are:

David Page - first prize for sculpture, "Sakvol Klippietjies" (little bag of rocks)

In discussions of "peace" and "reconciliation," these words often become platitudes, desirable, but meaningless.  What is omitted from the debate is an understanding of the mechanics or the properties of lasting peace.

It is not surprising that the lack of conflict is often mistaken for peace.

The search for peace is futile, because we are looking for the wrong thing.  If we seek peace, we can at best hope for a truce.  Meaningful peace is simply a fortunate by-product of a diligent quest for justice.  It is this necessary struggle inherent in the quest for justice that I seek to honor.

A little more than a year ago, I visited Robben Island, the infamous former prison off the cost of Cape Town.  For the latter half of the twentieth century it exclusively housed political prisoners, the most prominent of whom was Nelson Mandela.  The primary activity was the quarrying of limestone on the island.  The activity was extended into the bleak prison courtyard, where the inmates would reduce the rock to even smaller pieces with four-pound hammers.  To many of the younger political prisoners, this courtyard was considered the "Finest University on Earth" because of their proximity to the greatest political minds of the Southern African subcontinent.

This cliched prison activity of breaking rocks can be seen as a metaphor for steadfastness and resolve, facing nearly impossible odds, the act of breaking the rocks symbolizes the sacrifice and struggle to overcome those odds.  For this reason, I chose shards of limestone as the primary material for this piece.  Once broken, the rock cannot be reconstituted, even if all the pieces are put back together, the change is irreversible.  The collection of fragments, tightly bound together, illustrate both transformation and unity. The forged steel loop represents the will of those who refused to see their situation as hopeless or their position as inferior.

Virginia Blanca Arrisueno - first prize for 2-dimensional work, "Media and Its Words"

"Media and Its Words" shows several images of a woman's face presented on a t.v. shaped screen. On her face, words are neatly inscribed in proportional rows providing evidence that she was not the one that wrote on her skin.  Instead, someone else wrote on her face.  The terms presented are words related to the recent attacks.  Words such as "bio-warfare, death, and evil-doings" are neatly written across her skin.  The woman's facial expression is indifferent.  She does not show any emotions and refuses to look at the viewer.  Essentially, the woman does not know how to react to the words on her face.

I believe that the media influences the majority of people's opinions concerning the attacks.  In essence, the media throws out various words onto the public to persuade them to support the United States.  As a result, many Americans form their opinions based on what they see on t.v. rather than researching more on the situation through other sources.  In some cases, individuals like myself question the validity of the media's statements.  Are my opinions considerably influenced by the media.  Are my opinions based on true facts.  As a result, people like myself are left alone only to absorb the words and hopefully organize them in a coherent manner.  Although the media's tactic is beneficial and patriotic, I believe that the solution for peace is not only persuasion of the masses but also helping the American population better understand what is going on in the world.  If every person, foreign and non-foreign, took the time to fully understand the situation nationally and internationally, I believe that the rate of violence would decrease significantly.

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