Peace of Art at Cambridge City Hall

by Rosario Teixeira

Cambridge, MA - The 10th Peace of Art exhibit is open to the public from September 3rd through the 17th at the Cambridge City Hall, located at 795 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge. The exhibit 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, the creator and founder of Peace of Art.

From September 24th through 25th, Peace of Art will be exhibited at the Kennedy School of Government, Taubman Building, Cambridge, in conjunction with the United Nations Association of Greater Boston annual 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 exhibit represents the endurance of the human spirit and a message of hope permeates through each piece in the exhibit.

Cambridge is the city known for the place of residence of the most Nobel Peace Prize winners, champions of peace and social justice, therefore Cambridge is a mandatory stop for Peace of Art. With its legendary institutions of higher education, Cambridge hums with scientific innovation and creative ideas. At any given time, one can find at Harvard Square or Central Square, street performers, musicians, and artists metamorphosing city streets into a grand stage where ideas are first presented to the public, the grand canvas where wonderful works of art begin.

It is through the creative process that the artist addresses issues of his/her time and often the art work not only presents the problem but points out toward a solution as well. The Peace of Art images on display at the City Hall form a mosaic of humanity, reflections of ourselves and our society, promoting dialogue and challenging the viewer to reach his/her own conclusions.

Daniel Varoujan Hejinian, the artist who created Peace of Art, left Soviet Armenia in 1979 to pursue his artistic freedom in Boston. 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. His paintings speak eloquently, as an inescapable mirror where we see ourselves and our society.

In referring to "Peace of Life" Pamela Frank, from the United Nations Association of Greater Boston, said that this piece 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."

For more information about the artist visit www.CollectorsPalette.com. For information about Peace of Art, please log onto www.PeaceofArt.org , send e-mail to contact@Peaceofart.org or call 508-580-3151.