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IAACP/UPF-Argentina Observes UN International Day of Peace
Written by Miguel Werner, President, UPF-Argentina
Wednesday, September 21, 2022
Buenos Aires, Argentina—An artistic, cultural and interreligious meeting marked the celebration of the UN International Day of Peace, organized by the International Association of Arts and Culture for Peace (IAACP)/UPF-Argentina. The event took place on September 21, 2022 at the Auditorium for Peace in Buenos Aires, with more than 120 participants, many of them from different provinces (1).
Dr. Roberto Carlos Mazzulla, president of the Basilio Scientific School’s governing board, gave welcoming remarks as the host. This event had three parts: an interreligious section; the delivery of awards to the winners of UPF/IAACP-Argentina’s 10th International Poetic-Artistic Contest: “Freedom, Interdependence and Cooperation”; and an artistic section.
Prayers/invocations or messages were given by Swami Purnabodhananda, Ramakrishna Ashram Community in Argentina; Inderveer Kaur, Sikh Dharma Community in Argentina; Stella María Retamar, Soto Zen Buddhism Association in Argentina Nanzenji; Sergio Castellón, Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (FFWPU-Argentina); Rabbi Diego Vovchuk, Or Israel Community in Caballito, Public and Institutional Relations of the Latin American Rabbinical Seminar; Amina Rodríguez, moral and spiritual teaching secretary of the women’s organization Layna Imaillah, Ahmadía Muslim community, Argentina; Elder Carlos White, representative of the archbishopric at the Ecumenism and Interreligious Dialogue Commission of the Buenos Aires Archdiocese, Catholic Community; Lucio Antonio Capalbo, member of the Bahá’í Community in Buenos Aires; Adewale Eugenia Calvi, priestess of the Yoruba Iya tradition and president of the Africanist religious association Ile ti Oya-ogun; Jorge Luis Stein, representative of the Church of Scientology in Argentina; Andrea Fernández Bevans, director of the Communication Council of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; and Sister Norma Cano Ballester, spiritual coordinator and member of the General Committee of the Basilio Scientific School.
A gesture of unity and fraternity, pondering the power of prayer, our spiritual essence and interreligious dialogue and cooperation for Peace, which was promoted as one of UPF Founders’ lines of action, were points discussed by Ambassador for Peace Inderveer Kaur, representative of the Interreligious Association for Peace and Development (IAPD)/UPF-Argentina.
Next, awards were presented to the winners of the 10th International Poetic-Artistic Contest sponsored by UPF/IAACP-Argentina and held in support of the 2022 UN International Day of Peace, which had the theme “End racism. Build peace.”
Winners of the first prize (shared) in the Poetry category were Karina Piriz (La Matanza, Buenos Aires), for her piece “Esa paz que anhelo,” and Norberto Calul (Avellaneda, Buenos Aires), for “La paz.” They had the chance to recite their poems at the end. It was a heartwarming moment for the poets and artists, many of them coming from northern provinces. They received a framed diploma and 10 UPF/IAAC-Argentina’s 2022 Anthology “Freedom, Interdependence and Cooperation” books, which contain all winning poems and illustrations (2).
The first prize in Painting, which illustrates the cover of the 2022 Anthology, went to Martha Laroche (Buenos Aires City), for her piece entitled “Paz y Libertad,” and the first prize in Illustration went to Gladys Semillán Villanueva (Peregrina) (Ituzaingó, Buenos Aires), for her piece “Libertad.” There was a special mention in the Photography category which went to Eva Noemí Fernández (General Enrique Mosconi, Salta), for her work entitled “Juntos somos mejores,” while the Music, Dance and Video sections were vacant. Among those receiving awards, there were two international participants: Bernardo Tineo Tineo (Olmos, Lambayeque, Peru), with a special mention in Poetry for his piece “Amamos la paz,” and Ana Santos (Madrid, Spain), was awarded second prize in Illustration for her work entitled “Pázjaro.” All these pieces are included in the Anthology, delivered to awardees and participants of the meeting (3).
The Contest had more than 200 participants in the different categories, mainly poems, from all Argentinian provinces. Also represented were Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Puerto Rico, United States, Uruguay and Venezuela; and European countries: Spain and Italy.
“The Jury, fully conscious this contributes to strengthen values and ideals shared by all men of good character, saw in all the awarded pieces harmonization, the reflection of the authors’ soul, which completely corresponds to what is captured in this international organization, whose main objective is to tirelessly work around the world for peace,” claimed in representation of the Poetry Jury Professor Lucía Nelly Vergara, high school and Northeast National University teacher, writer and member of the ILCH (Hispanic Cultural Literary Institute) and SADE (Argentinian Writers Society).
The Poetry Jury also consisted of professors Julia Marta Rossignol (Buenos Aires), Pablo Félix Jiménez (Catamarca), Edith Montiel (Neuquén) and María Rosa Barabaschi (La Pampa), and was coordinated by literary critic and representative of IAACP-Argentina Bertha Bilbao Richter, ILCH vice-president and member of the Youth Literature Argentine Academy.
Ms. Richter was also the contest’s Godmother, along with poet and writer Nélida Pessagno, current coordinator of SADE’s literary groups, being a former president and current honorary member; bilingual poet Marina Fagundes Coello, founding member of ProArte Society and Uruguayan Culture (Brazil) and member of various American literary circles; writer and plastic artist Martha Candioti, SADE’s pro-secretary of Culture and coordinator of Image and Word (SADE); poet and plastic artist Mabel Fontau, member of the ILCH and the “Gente de Letras” Committee; and poet Donato Perrone, representative of the Santa Catarina Poets Group (Brazil). All of them are Ambassadors for Peace.
Martha Candioti and Mabel Fontau were also part of the Painting, Illustration and Photography Jury, along with plastic artist Daniel Chiaravalle, honorary member of the Argentinian Society of Plastic Artists, where he was Secretary General twice. They also received a certificate for their valuable work for a culture of peace. The recognitions were given by Lucía Nelly Vergara, Bertha Bilbao Richter, representative of IAACP-Argentina, and Roseta Conti, member of UPF-Argentina’s governing board and president of WFWP-Argentina.
During the award ceremony, Ambassador for Peace Mary Acosta, national president of the “Alas” Argentinian Academy, also gave the Universal Peace Flag, promoted by the Pacis Nuntii Movement, to Francisca Ramírez, who came from the northern province of Jujuy (La Quiaca) to receive her Special Mention in Poetry for her work “Mi musa de paz.” The Universal Peace Flag, which has a baby blue background and a dove with an olive branch in its beak, connects with the values of “Peace, love and fraternity,” proclaimed by the youth canoeing expedition which united Brasilia with Buenos Aires (5.400 Km.) in the International Youth Day of 1985.
In the beginning, the new Ambassador for Peace Liliana Prado, culture coordinator of CIDEC-Argentina, read UPF-Argentina’s Peace Declaration for the 2022 International Day of Peace. “Conflict and violence can be caused by lack of dialogue and our distance from our highest ideals and deepest aspirations. Aggression is a symptom of decay, a loss of a sense of life, a social failure. If we really want to end violence and arms, we must commit to a spiritual awakening,” expresses Point 1 (4).
The artistic section was in charge of singer Michele Baer, who also warmly performed a song after the prayers/invocations/messages, confirming the expression: “Singing is like praying twice,” as was recalled by Miguel Werner, UPF-Argentina president, who was the emcee along with his wife Alba Luz Tangarife. Ms. Baer is a talented artist from California, United States, who has composed and recorded inspiring music, available in digital platforms. She is recognized for balancing dedication and passion for music, community and family service, having six children and 12 grandchildren.
This was followed by announcements of upcoming activities from UPF-Argentina’s leadership areas, which can be seen live through their YouTube channel. Ambassadors for Peace Luciana Zambrano, public relations for 2022 Peace Road Argentina, and Andrea Fernández Bevans and Erika Alcaraz, from the monitoring team of the 2022 Peace Road Argentina, gave the Peace Road Flag to Peace Ambassador Liliana Hernández for the 2022 Institutional Representative in Misiones: Marcia Rosko, from the Civil Association “Victorias Misioneras.”
At the closing, a promotional photo was taken with Ambassadors for Peace and other guests with the Peace Road flag, which this year has the theme “Connecting Argentina Through Peace.” Peace Road activities took place in all 23 provinces, including Buenos Aires City and Antarctica, through Provincial Institutional Representatives: solidary, ecological, educational, sportive, artistic, interreligious or intercultural (5).
For this event, we received many salutations and support which announced by the emcees, especially from the Communicational Space “Un Poco Mas,” directed by Raúl Peloni, and FUND.ART.E.S, presided over by Ambassador for Peace Lucrecia Potenza.
Quotes:
1) Recording of the award ceremony – UPF-Argentina 2022 International Day of Peace:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5Kl_-szFvY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2zTccAlWDQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pP0BybGSPtw
Photos of celebration of the UPF-Argentina 2022 International Day of Peace:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?vanity=upfargentina&set=a.2215665235279230
2) and 3) UPF/IAACP-Argentina 2022 “Freedom, Interdependence and Cooperation” Anthology: winning poems and illustrations of the 10th International Poetic-Artistic Contest:
4) Declaration of the 2022 International Day of Peace - UPF Argentina:
https://es.slideshare.net/UPFArgentina/declaracin-da-internacional-de-la-paz-2022-upf-argentina
5) 2022 Peace Road: “Connecting Argentina Through Peace”:
https://es.slideshare.net/UPFArgentina/carpeta-ruta-de-la-paz-argentina-2022
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