The goal of Republic of Peace is to Promote Understanding through Arts & Cultures.
Simply put, we are a work in progress – seeking, questioning, and experimenting in our search for equity, compassion, and respect for all. We don’t pretend to have answers to society’s ills, but at least, through arts and cultures, we are participating in the conversation on a local and a global scale. We want to make peace and compassion famous in 2012 and beyond, not just as purveyors of “feel-good” messaging, but also from looking critically at difficult issues even when it’s uncomfortable.
We believe that “systems thinking” is the key to solving many problems – that the whole is much more than the sum of its parts and, for that whole to survive and thrive, it’s crucial that every section works in concert. Whatever happens in Los Angeles, or La Paz ripples through Lagos, Lesotho, Lahore and all around. Or what we like to refer to as the Dem Bones theory: “Toe bone connected to the foot bone, Foot bone connected to the leg bone, Leg bone connected to the knee bone . . .”
We are imperfect and will certainly make mistakes, however we will be shameless in our attempt to course-correct and to take responsibility for our words and actions.
If we were a punctuation mark, we would be an ellipsis . . . pregnant with possibilities, subject to change, and eternally becoming.
The earth is one pulsating, living body. Let’s treat her as such – together.
We dedicate the Republic of Peace website to our beloved friend and mentor – artist, curator and renaissance man, Ronald Rafael Lopez who is with us in spirit.
Manifesto
We are eternal seekers using words, imagery and actions to fashion questions that bring awareness to injustice. When all else fails, we will bend the barrels of the oppressor’s weapons backwards surprising them with flowers instead of bullets.
We are tricksters (*of the Lewis Hyde variety) , storytellers and mythmakers who embrace contradictions in our approach to problem solving while inspiring change. We relish simplicity and our faith resides in the kindness of spirit and the power of empathy. Our heroes are the fearless souls who speak truth and continue to stand firm in the face of peril and certain death.
We know where our feet are planted, yet are filled with memories of places from where we have journeyed. We believe in the interconnectedness of everything, in non hierarchical holistic interrelationships of connected parts and in the power of thought to stir consciousness and move mountains.
We speak in many tongues, but in our world, understanding transcends language and when necessary, we employ silence to express our meaning. We practice many trades, yet are concerned less with mastery, than with seeking to do what is best for humankind. We see possibility and potential in the discarded and so we appropriate, recycle, recontextualize, ravel and unravel.
In our most lucid dreams, there are no locks on our minds, no scales impede our vision… Our voices are loud and clear.
Although land and water may separate us, we are both – Like land we ground each other and like water we flow into each other generating electricity. We are mirrored in the faces of the exploited and downtrodden whose smiles amid adversity fuel our creativity and compose our songs. With them we vow to share our triumphs and successes.
We are witnesses and art is our evidence . We belong to a fluid state without borders, love is our currency, peace our anthem and we pledge allegiance to the light that shines in all of us even when we wander through darkness.
We belong to the Republic of Peace.
Musings:
October 3, 2010
I have a bicycle which I’m afraid to ride on the streets.
I love the ocean and the beautiful creatures it enfolds within its embrace, but I’m afraid to take up diving.
And so,
In my dreams, I ride my bike in the ocean and I can see firsthand, the incredible life and colors within it.
If we can imagine these things, we can imagine peace!
/ofunne
Help yourself to this feed link.
*Trickster Makes This World: Mischief, Myth, and Art
AMAZON