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Created for UNESCO by six great artists
Produced by Pierre Cardin, UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador
Raised for the first time at UNESCO on the occasion of the
celebration of its 50th anniversary, 16 November 1995
Offered by UNESCO to its 185 Member States to be raised in
1996
Among
the great contemporary artists from different regions of the world,
six have created a flag symbolising the spirit of Tolerance for
UNESCO, the lead organization for the United Nations Year for Tolerance
(1995). The artists are : Friedensreich Hundertwasser (Austria),
Souleymane Keita (Senegal), Rachid Koraichi (Algeria), Roberto Matta
(Chile), Robert Rauschenberg (United States), and Dan You (Viet
Nam).
It was a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador, Pierre Cardin, who sponsored
the project. Produced by this French creator, himself a member of
the French Institute, the flags will be offered by UNESCO to each
of its 185 Member States to be raised during 1996.
The Flags of Tolerance were presented to the 28th Session of the
UNESCO General Conference, which brought together some 2,500 delegates
from the Organization's Member States, as well as representatives
of the worlds of education, science, culture and communication from
25 October to 16 November 1995 at its Paris Headquarters. The flags
were hoisted at UNESCO on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of
the signing of its Constitution on 16 November, and exhibited at
the Enrico Navarra Gallery in Paris from 18 December to 19 January
1996.
Communicate,
learn, take the paths of tolerance
Alarmed by the rise of intolerance, violence, terrorism, xenophobia,
aggressive nationalism, racism, anti-Semitism, exclusion, marginalisation
and discrimination against minorities, the General Conference adopted
a Declaration of Principles on Tolerance and proclaimed 16 November
the International Day for Tolerance.
In the Declaration the States define tolerance and affirm their will
to combat intolerance and to promote tolerance, which is the keystone
of human rights, pluralism, democracy and the rule of law. "The
practice of tolerance means that one is free to adhere to one's own
convictions and accepts that others adhere to theirs," the Declaration
says. Among a series of proposed measures is one main recommendation:
education for tolerance must be considered an absolute priority.
"Young people must learn to resolve conflicts by non-violent
means, to be aware that 'other people' means each one of us. To practice
tolerance is to renounce violence. The United Nations Year for Tolerance,
proclaimed by the United Nations at the initiative of UNESCO, has
been the occasion to honour a value/virtue which, having spanned the
ages and all cultures, is being much neglected as we approach the
end of the century." (Federico Mayor, UNESCO Director-General)
 The
Spiritual Globe - Robert Rauschenberg
With this flag, a global map in the form of hearts, Robert Rauschenberg,
leader of contemporary American art, wanted to underline the spiritual
dimension of tolerance. "The globe opens out and becomes a heart
resembling the hands Michael Angelo painted on the ceiling of the
Sixtine Chapel, which unite the creator to his creature. This heart
asserts itself as a spiritual organ setting the tempo of life on earth,"
explains the artist, who was born in 1925 in the United States.
 The
Breath of Fraternity - Souleymane Keita
"This flag is the breath of fraternity that unites men who
are mobilised by tolerance. It rises like blue music in a blue sky,
the image of hope as this 20th century ends," says the African
artist Souleymane Keita, who was born in 1947 in Goree, Senegal.
Like the flag he created, his painting adapts themes from his surroundings
such as elements from nature, music, and spiritualism, integrating
a variety of styles - abstractionism, figurative, impressionism.
 The
Earth is Our Skin - Roberto Matta
"I christened one of my first paintings 'To Be With' in order
to show my will for solidarity," Roberto Matta recalls. The
painter, born in 1911 in Santiago, Chile, raises a cry of alarm
: "The earth is threatened, love is threatened, poetry is threatened,
art is threatened." And the painter makes an appeal : "Tolerance
is the affirmation of the desire to live, to retrieve nature. You
must love the earth above all else. It is truth and light. It is
our skin."
 The
Balance of Life - Dan You
Dan You works on image concepts with Jean Michel Jarre, whose concert
for tolerance was attended by 1.5 million persons on 14 July 1995
in Paris. His flag represents the four elements : "Air, fire,
earth and water, the source of all being and beyond any dogmas,"
says the artist, who was born in 1958 in Saigon (Viet Nam). "The
defined and infinite forms reflect the paradoxes of the Yin and
Yang components of balance. Asia has found and will find the paths
of tolerance within its extremes".
 The
Path of the Infinite - Rachid Koraichi
"Blue, a supraterrestrial colour, is the path of the infinite.
It expresses detachment from the values of this world," says
the Algerian artist Rachid Koraichi, who was born in 1947. "For
an African, gold is the principle of solidity, of human security,
the principle of happiness." The five-pointed star incarnates
the human microcosm: "It shines in people's hearts, which are
obscured by passions." Like a talisman, the checkerboard recalls
the seven words of the Muslim profession of faith : seeking, love,
knowledge, independence, unity, wonder, devotion.
Harmony
and Evolution - Friedensreich Hundertwasser
"The figure expresses mankind, and the colour blue means
hope; it is the sign ofthe development of humanity, an integral
part of the universe," Friedensreich Hundertwasser, one of
the leading figures of contemporary art, says of his flag. "Tolerance
is an eternal value," emphasises the Austrian artist who was
born in 1928 in Vienna. "We have entered the new age of tolerance,
which has become an absolute necessity. This flag is a Treatise
that implies the endless cycle of the renewal of life and of peace".
Armonie si evolutie - Friedensreich Hundertwasser
The
indispensable ingredient of a culture of peace
"Tolerance is a necessary condition of peace among individuals,
among peoples, among countries, and the indispensable ingredient
of a culture of peace. We must put out the message of tolerance
to raise public awareness of it and to mobilize the international
community.
The Flags of Tolerance, which we owe to the talent and the generosity
of the great artists who have agreed to be our partners, are the
perfect symbol to carry this message beyond the International Year
for Tolerance."
Federico
Mayor
The will to live together
"To my mind, these six artists are as one and they affirm the
triumph of the good and the true with the beauty of the forces of
peace. My hope is that these six flags, witnesses of the powerful
desire to build the future, will fly over all the capitals of our
planet and mobilise young people as well as all the worid's citizens
with the hope and the will to live together. May this marvellous
story of generosity be a success!"
Pierre
Cardin
www.unesco.org
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