FunCulturalDuván López: "Colombia has to learn to be fair...

Duván López: "Colombia has to learn to be fair without killing its children"

“The chair of peace” is a statuette created by the artist Duván López. The Schengen Peace Foundation delivers it as an emblem: a three-legged chair and the fourth is completed by those who believe in non-violent actions.

Babel, the name by which the tower built by Noah’s descendants is known, derives from the Hebrew word balal, which means “to confuse.” What we are experiencing these days in Colombia could well refer to some elements of this recurring story of mythology, an example of how arrogant men can be and, at the same time, how open and willing they can be to communicate, dialogue and speak a only language.

To demolish the towers that divide us is to dialogue. Agree with the convictions of others, ask, listen, be heard, reason … For this, ten prominent peace activists from around the world met at the University of Luxembourg, on May 28, in the ninth ceremony annual delivery of the Peace Prize and the Conference of the Transatlantic Dialogue Reimagining the Tower of Babel, a scenario that advocates a philosophy of practice that incorporates approaches based on the arts, peace and global citizenship.

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On the list to receive the award are Scilla Elworthy, a three-time Nobel Peace Prize nominee for formulating nuclear weapons policy; William Vendley, pioneer in facilitating the establishment of multi-religious councils around the world; the organization Las Palabras Curan el Mundo, created by a young Brazilian to combat hate speech and extremism on the internet; Libby Liu, dedicated to supporting people who legally report wrongdoing; the joint Israeli-Palestinian movement One Land for All: Two States; Professor Steve Youngblood, Director of the Journalism Center for Global Peace; Kenyan photographer Bonifacio Mwangi; the association Agua, Paz y Seguridad, and the Mexican artist Pedro Reyes, whose works incite change and social mobilization.

The winners will receive La Silla de la Paz, a statuette created by the Quindian artist Duván López, which the Schengen Peace Foundation has given, since 2017, as an emblem: a three-legged chair and the fourth is completed by those who believe in actions. of non-violence.

In this version, the Colombian artist, who shows in his sculptures the unifocal vision and the destruction of the concept of three-dimensionality of space, will be present at the event to inaugurate a sculpture of La Silla de la Paz. Currently, there are three of these chairs exhibited in different parts of the world: one at the Vila Casas Foundation, in Besalú, province of Spain; another in Barcelona, in the same country, and one more in the Quimbaya Town Hall square, in Quindío, the municipality where the artist was born.

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For Duván, having the sculpture in the public square will allow generating thoughts and new questions to a problem that cannot be focused on in Colombia because it is universal: violence.

“I did not want to do it in Colombia because I do not want to politicize my work and because the country is in a mental restructuring, of power, of government, in an annoying moment that has to happen. Power cannot make us forget democracy, which is in the making in Colombia. We do not have to speak of peace, but of coexistence. Colombia has to learn to be fair, without killing its children ”, added the artist Duván López.

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López knows that everything is a path, and while preparing the installation of La Silla de la Paz at the University of Luxembourg, to encourage reflection on dialogue and human encounter, he is working on a project that shows seven colored chairs that inhabit the human being.

They will be organized this time in a circle and not in a tower like Babel, because it has no beginning or end and because it wants to symbolically express the meaning of human life and the universe, the idea that we can be different and of multiple colors , speaking peacefully about identity, art, culture and customs that unite us as a country, overcoming differences, getting closer to others with the will to recognize and understand.

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