Peace of Art at Newton City Hall

The 11th Peace of Art exhibit
at Kennedy School of Government
in conjunction with the United Nations Association of Greater Boston Film Festival.

by Rosario Teixeira

Cambridge, MA -The 11th Peace of Art exhibit will be at the Kennedy School of Government, Taubman Building, Cambridge from September 24th through 25th in conjunction with the United Nations Association of Greater Boston Film Festival. This year, the event is subject to the theme "Enduring Hope: The Tenacity of the Human Spirit." Peace of Art is a traveling art exhibit which addresses the universal human condition and it intends to promote peace, independent of political associations and religious dogma. Peace of Art represents the endurance of the human spirit and a message of hope permeates through each piece in the exhibit.

Currently, the 10th Peace of Art exhibit is on display at the Cambridge City Hall, located at 795 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, until September 17th . It is available for viewing during regular City Hall hours of operation. The public is invited on September 13th from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. to meet the artist Daniel Varoujan Hejinian.

Daniel Varoujan Hejinian, the artist who created and founded Peace of Art, left Soviet Armenia in 1979 to pursue his artistic freedom in the United States. In his Peace of Art collection he addresses sensitive issues around the globe, the specks of injustice, blotches of hunger and homeless, weapons of mass destruction, sickness, despair, repressed voices that have been silenced, blinded and deafen trying to survive. It is through the creative process that the artist addresses issues of our time and often the art work not only presents the problem but points out toward a solution as well. The Peace of Art images form a mosaic of humanity, reflections of ourselves and our society, promoting dialogue and challenging the viewer to reach his/her own conclusions. His paintings speak eloquently, as an inescapable mirror where we see ourselves and our society.

"Artist Daniel Varoujan Hejinian uses the universal language of art to communicate the universal language of the human spirit." Said Pamela Frank, from the United Nations Association of Greater Boston. In referring to "Peace of Life" she said that "this work speaks to our changing world and our role as global citizens to value human life." Further, she said that it is in line with the theme of the film festival. "Peace of Life" represents the preciousness of life. In this piece, a blind man holds his eye ball in between his fingers attempting to see the magical world. Often we are blinded by the events around the globe, and we loose sight of the important things and how we can make a difference.

"It is important to make artwork accessible to as many people as possible," said Councilor John Tobin, Chair of the City of Boston Council's Committee on Arts, Film, Humanities & Tourism. "Mr. Hejinian's series of sketches tackle some of the most important issues of our time: war, fear, intolerance, hunger, violence, and homelessness. The Peace of Art exhibit is especially important right now in light of current events around the world."