By
Heidi Trautmann
Do
you remember the days in Nicosia when elephants were sent to stand up for peace
on the road to the Lokmacı Crossing? It was in 2009 and the drums were beaten
and people came from all sides to listen to what the elephants had to say, to
read the messages that were included in the many colourful children’s drawings
of elephants. It was the creation of Rose Marie Gnausch. I had met Rose Marie several times and had listened
with great interest of her idea she wanted to carry around the world which - over
the last years - she has been doing and she found great response.
Now,
after her last project event in Barcelona she was given the Peace Award by the
International association LIVING PEACE INTERNATIONAL. My congratulations to
her. She is not forgotten.
You
can read about it in the links below, also what the artist and art historian
Rose Marie has to say on her project.
http://www.heiditrautmann.com/category.aspx?CID=7251336818#.Wgf08lWWaUk
http://gnausch.net/efpwp/about/
Here an excerpt
of her introduction to her website….
Elephants
for Peace was
envisioned in 2003 by the artist and art historian Rose Marie Gnausch. She started a world
movement, introducing an image for the peaceful majority. The elephant was
chosen as a symbol because it marries power with peace. The elephant is a
majestic figure of grand size, non abusive in its power and never suppresses
the Other.
Since
our brain functions through constant image making, images change the world.
Therefore the symbol of the elephant marrying peace with power changes the
perception of this world. The movement Elephants for Peace offers you a
platform to make powerful peace visible.
Give your voice an image!
Elephants
for Peace,
as a movement is open for participation and can be created at any time at any
place.
…Peace
is an issue that concerns us all, one that must be celebrated and won every day
anew. She [Rose Marie Gnausch] is a person who is not passively watching, but
is consciously engaging for world peace. The German artist and art historian
would like to draw attention to the fact that the majority of people are for
peace in the core of their hearts, but believe that they have no means of
achieving peace due to the overwhelming power of current negativity. The
individual feels alone, in the sense of “I cannot do anything anyway.” To break
through the belief in the status quo is the main goal of the art peace project
Elephants for Peace. By participating in the project, the peace intention of
the individual is visible and thus experienced by others…I pay tribute to this
project as a meaningful, unifying project and hope that many people will
support it by all means possible…
Christa Klass
Member of the European Parliament
29/09/09