Prayer Flags Around the World
Artists from around the world made art on cloth to hang together like Tibetan prayer flags. The pieces will first be hung at the Grafton Peace Pagoda in Grafton, NY in August 2008, for the annual Hiroshima memorial prayer ceremony. Then the pieces will travel to exhibitions in Boston and Amherst Massachusetts, and then to the participating artists’ countries for ceremonies and exhibitions as a symbol of peace around the world. This project was inspired by a ceremony I initiated during the 2006 D. Fleiss Residency/Symposia in Carei, Romania on Hiroshima Day 2006. This was during the Lebanon War using two paintings by Talal Moualla, who received daily phone calls from his home about the devastation. There were artists from Syria, Egypt, Morocco, Japan, France, USA, Hungary, Ukraine, Romania, Germany, Brazil, Italy, Spain, Thailand, UAE, Poland and more. It was inspiring to create art with artists from around the world in a spirit of peace and harmony. This is a continuation of that experience with all of the artists from the D. Fleiss Symposia/Residency invited, along with others. Due to communication and language issues, flags continue to arrive. Artists will be welcome to join for future ceremonies and exhibitions. With deep gratitude to all of the participating artists whose prayers go out for peace,with palms together,
Thomas Matsuda
