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International Association of Arts and Culture for Peace
IAACP Arts Association Launched in Argentina
Argentina—UPF-Argentina launched the International Association of Arts and Culture for Peace (IAACP) at a celebration of the International Day of Peace held September 28, 2021, in a meeting on Zoom and YouTube (1). On this occasion we also launched the 10th International Poetry-Art Contest and presented the collection of the winning poems and artworks of the 2020 Poetry-Art Contest organized by UPF-Argentina.
Greetings were given by Carlos Varga, director of UPF-Argentina, followed by a message from director of UPF-South America, Rev. Dong Mo Shin, who spoke about the potential of artistic expression to bring about the unity of peoples and cultures, described by the UPF Founders. “People tend to think that politics rule the world, but it wasn’t like that in this case. Culture and arts rule the world. It’s the emotion, not the reason, that affects people in the deepest parts of their heart. When they change and can embrace new things, ideologies and social regimes change as a result,” he read from As a Peace-Loving Global Citizen, Rev. Moon’s autobiography. In one chapter of the book is the story of how the Korean folk ballet, The Little Angels, tore down barriers and opened doors during the tense relationship between North and South Korea.
Representatives of IAACP-Argentina were introduced: writer Jorge Alcaraz, judge of UPF’s 9th International Poetry Contest, coordinator of Almafuerte’s Literary Circle, and secretary of the Argentinian Writers Society (SADE); and literary critic Bertha Bilbao Richter, who was committed from the beginning to UPF’s literary activities. She is vice-president of the Hispanic Institute of Literature and Culture (ILCH), member of the Argentinian Academy of Child and Youth Literature (AALIJ), and leader of the Undergraduate Degree in Literary Theory and Production and SADE’s Child and Youth Literature Undergraduate Degree in cooperation with the National University of Villa María (Córdoba).
Writers Esteban Fauret and Amalia Daibes, directors of the Literary-Ecologic Program “Y volverán a ser árboles,” gave testimonies about their social commitment, in this case from literature to environmental care involving promoting tree planting. Together with their organization, UPF has led since 2018 the campaign “Let’s Plant Trees; Let’s Sow Peace,” to raise awareness of the need for protection of the natural environment and more collective commitments for peace.
The program, moderated by Ambassador for Peace Luba Opeka, public relations director of UPF-Argentina, and Miguel Werner, president of UPF-Argentina, was an artistic one. First, a musical video to celebrate the 2010 International Day of Peace was shown, where the Poetry Contest award ceremony took place, with the motto: “Cultures: Values and Integration for Peace” (2). This was followed by a video of the folk-dance group, the Little Angels of South Korea, a project from the 1960’s by the UPF Founders, who have brought together East and West for decades and have opened doors between countries in conflict through the universal language of dancing (3).
Next, we shared the “Hymn to Reconciliation,” from the poem “Cada cual” by Concepción Rodríguez de Garaventa, first prize of the Poetry Contest organized by UPF-Argentina in 2009; general production by Ambassador for Peace Dr. Luis Guedes and images of the celebration of the 2014 International Day of Peace (4). The poem “Solidaridad” was read by Marina Fagundes Coello, third honorable mention of the Poetry Contest “Cultures: Values and Integration for Peace” 2010 (5). The 2020 first-prize poems were read: “Mi paz, tu paz,” poet Mirta Nancy Almassio (Necochea, Province of Buenos Aires); and “Galope de mariposas,” poet José Luis Hernández Castellanos (La Havana, Cuba), read by Jorge Alcaraz.
During the meeting, Miguel Werner presented the objectives and criteria of the 10th International Poetry-Art Contest, with the motto “Freedom, Interdependence, and Cooperation” (6), and the collection of awarded works of the 2020 Contest by UPF-Argentina, with the motto “Interdependence, Mutual Prosperity and Universal Values” (7). Luba Opeka read the objectives of IAACP-Argentina:
- Motivate the different artistic expressions, with a language that transcends borders and cultures, offering their contributions to Peace, based on universal values.
- Inspire the creativity and development of talents directed towards universal fraternity, visualizing, recognizing and rewarding their representatives and mentors.
- Promote the values of beauty and kindness, elevating the human spirit and the community spirit. Foster a social and global sense and friendship, committing to a “global family.”
- Claim that a peaceful world is an achievable goal, a collective dream and task to do, an essential imperative, an ineludible moral duty, from the dignity of each person, transcending modern challenges, current conflicts and historical disappointments.
- Peace as hope for all eras and the UPF, whose main ideal and principle is “true love,” a life of service, where the energies go towards reconciliating, rebuilding and reinforcing peace and harmony with our neighbors, the Creator and Creation.
To close the event, after words of appreciation from the participants, a promotional video of 2021 Peace Road Argentina was shown by Ambassador for Peace Marcelo Lagranja, from FM Sapucai in Resistencia, Province of Chaco (8). He invited everyone to join with like-minded groups for ecologic, artistic-cultural, sportive or interreligious actions. The closing song was “United Nations for Peace: Interreligious and Intercultural Hymn,” lyrics and music composed especially for the celebration of the 2016 International Day of Peace, performed by an intercultural and interreligious choir created that year (9).
There were many greetings and declarations of support for the event: América Madre, International Cultural Institution, founded and directed by Irma Droz; “Real-Izar la Paz,” Cultural-Educational Movement, directed by María Irene Giurlani; Latin American Confederation of Writers, Artists and Poets of the World (CON.L.E.A.M), led by poet Héctor Domingo Páez; “Esperanza Argentina,” directed by Marisa Patiño; Argentinian School of Yoga and Ayurveda, directed by Swami Isidro Justo Fernández; and the civil association “Acercando Naciones,” whose president is Ambassador for Peace Patricia Pitaluga.
Quotes:
1) Recording of the 2021 International Day of Peace celebration:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vomVUPRSen8
2) Celebration of the 2010 International Day of Peace celebration:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJL4WMe3Qv4
3) Folk Ballet – Little Angels of South Korea:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rb4Ln2Q8m2E
4) “Hymn to Reconciliation” with the poem “Cada cual” by Concepción Rodríguez de Garaventa:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFw_d76x5PQ
5) Poem “Solidaridad” by Marina Fagundes Coello:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iloyquSBkKY
6) Objectives and criteria of the 10th International Poetry-Art Contest “Freedom, Interdependence and Cooperation”:
https://www.upf.org/article/9753-upf-argentina-announces-10th-international-poetry-art-contest
7) 2020 collection of winning artistic entries on the theme “Interdependence, Mutual Prosperity and Universal Values”:
http://g01.upf.org/PDF/2020%20Antologia-Argentina%20Art%20Contest.pdf
8) Promotional video of 2021 Peace Road Argentina by Marcelo Lagranja:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sz_HHw47Wrs
9) “United Nations for Peace: Interreligious and Intercultural Hymn,” by the intercultural and interreligious chorus:
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