Video: Contributions to a global Culture of Peace
Commemorating the UN International Day of
Peace UPF Burgenland, an Austrian region located on the eastern part of the
country, organised on September 10th, 2023 an peace conference in cooperation
with the Coalition of Faith Based Organizations with the thema
“Contributions to a global Culture of Peace”.
This conference took place in the premises of
the Schlaining Peace Castle and it was moderated by Mr.
Johann Rechberger, the president of UPF Burgenland.
In his opening remarks Mr. Rechberger
noted that: ``The year 2000 was declared the "International Year of a
Culture of Peace" in a resolution of the United Nations General Assembly.
The General Assembly, recalling the aims and principles of the United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organizations, states that peace does not
only mean the absence of conflict, but that it also requires a positive dynamic
and participatory process, within which dialogue is encouraged and conflicts
are to be resolved in a spirit of mutual understanding and cooperation``.
The panellists of this event were Prof. Dr. Titus Leber, Creator of numerous large-scale
interactive-cultural multimedia productions; Ms. Tatjana Christelbauer M.A.,
the founder of the “Agency for Cultural Diplomacy Austria”; Prof. Dr. Elmar Kuhn, President of the Coalition of Faith Based
Organisations for Austria and Central Europe; Dr. Leo
Gabriel, a social anthropologist, journalist and documentary film-maker; Ms.
Anela Cindrak, an Accordion player and Music teacher
from Montenegro and Mr. Peter Haider, the President of UPF in Austria.
Prof. Dr.
Titus Leber started with stating that peace arises
from finding common ground while transcending boundaries. During the last 25
years he was involved in multimedia presentation of cultural and religious
contents. Some of his projects were
documentaries of World Culture Heritage sites under the protectorate of
UNESCO like the Borobudur in Indonesia. His latest project is “Africa
interactive” which uses state of the art
technology to gather and disseminate compact information of Africa´s vast
cultural heritage and to make this information accessible via smart media to
young Africans, thus enabling them to appreciate Africa´s contribution to the
world´s cultural patrimony. He also suggested to
be concerned about the spiritual or mental pollution of our environment that
takes place through the media and was even heavily criticized for it. The
display of violence leads to excesses. He suggested at the European Cultural
Parliament to put heavy taxation upon media producers who propagate violence
for the sake of violence.
Ms. Tatjana Christelbauer said that UNESCO understands the culture of
peace as the everyday way of thinking, behaving and living of individuals and
society. It is based on respect for human rights, participation, dialogue and
cooperation. The culture of peace fundamentally excludes violence as a means of
conflict resolution. She spoke about Feminist approaches to the culture of
peace and quoted Rosa Mayreder (1858-1938), an
Austrian musician, composer, cultural philosopher and gender and peace
researcher who said "Humanity can achieve lasting peace only when 'feminine
qualities' are actively incorporated into the political and social order of
society." After her speech she presented a dance meditation "I did
not let go of my angel for a long time" ("Angels songs" by
Rainer Maria Rilke) with expressive dance forms (Tatjana Christelbauer) and Tai
Chi sword art (Mag.a Ursula Wagner). Her presentation
ended with a “Feather meditation” as a sensual experience that invites
attentive movement in leading and following, as well as the ability to send a
gift and receive it again, to hold it (the gift) mindfully and to let it go
again.
Prof. Dr.
Elmar Kuhn emphasised in his address that it is high
time to finally develop narratives of peace, which are based on truth and that
religious institutions in particular could develop such narratives and
implement them in education. To achieve this, religions and ultimately each of
us would have to become more visible again in society. There will be no peace
in the world without the contribution of Faith-based organizations, even if our
secularized Europe tries to banish God from politics and society as much as
possible.
Ms. Anela Čindrak,
an artist whose parents live in Montenegro and who studied in Slovakia spoke
about her journey in life. She started with “Salam” explaining that
she has a Moslem background. Coming from Montenegro, which is on the way to
become an EU country, she continued with “Mir”. In 1992 the Bosnian war started
and Yugoslavia was destroyed. She was born in a Serbian town which was
completely destroyed in 1999. Still she said “Peace” or “Mir”. Her family has
Albanian background and she used the word “Pace”, which has Latin roots. As an
Albanian she also used “Shalom”, as Albanians have saved during the their
history many Jewish lives. Now she has an address in Vienna so she says
“Frieden”. In Vienna you hear in the 2nd district “Shalom”, in the
10th you hear “Salam”. You can hear “Friede” and also “Mir” or
“Pace” and she asks herself: “Am I at home here?” She likes to live in Vienna,
which is so colorful. Even she speaks “Peace”,
“Peace”, “Peace” she feels anger and sadness as this world became a much more
difficult place to live in during the last year – new wars, a new crises here
and there. She announced that within 24 hours she will perform in three events dedicated
to peace. After her speech she surprised the audience with two musical
contributions on the accordion.
Dr.
Leo Gabriel recalled the danger of the nuclear
threat, which has become even greater as a result of the war in Ukraine,
stating that: “Peace is the most important issue in the world today”. He spoke
about the discussions in the World Social Forum, where he has been active for
decades and among others mentioned that the peace movement must also learn and
connect the issue of peace with the climate and environment topics as well as
social justice. He concluded by saying that we need a convergence of movements,
because together we are strong.
Mr. Peter Haider started
by quoting Paramahamsa Prajnanananda, an Indian yoga
master, who said in a recent UPF Conference: "Peace is the absence of
ruthlessness, hatred, jealousy, conflict, contradiction, and chaos, and the
prevalence of cooperation, serenity, mutual understanding, and the
manifestation of help and care for one another." He said that family is
the only institution that God has created and it is sustaining humanity. It is
the school of love where people can learn how to love each other and live
together in peace. It is like a base camp for world peace.
He also quoted UPF founder Dr. Sun Myung Moon "The problem is how to end the
troubled conflict within ourselves. My first motto when I started this path
was, 'Control yourself before you try to control the universe.' If you can't
control yourself, you can't control the world." "Why must we continue
this path that is causing so much suffering, wasting countless dollars on wars
that in the end will never lead to reconciliation between enemies? The time has
come for all countries in this world to use their resources to build a world of
peace."
The conference concluded with a lunch in the
gardens inside the castle, where everyone enjoyed the sunny weather of a very
warm late summer day.
A message from Peacecastle
Schlaining: For a nuclear weapons-free Europe -
cranes for peace
Every August, people around the world
commemorate the atomic bomb of Hiroshima - the Schlaining
Peace Castle houses what is probably the best-known legacy of a Hiroshima
victim: a tiny crane. The paper crane made by Sadako Sasaki, the girl from
Hiroshima, is only a few millimetres small. When the atomic bomb exploded over
Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, Sadako was just two and a half years old. She
survived, but 10 years later she fell ill with the long-term effects, but she
clung to an old Japanese belief, that anyone who folds 1,000 cranes would
recover and be healthy again.
Five cranes for five continents. But when the
1000 cranes were folded, the girl felt worse than ever. She tried harder and
folded even smaller and more elaborate cranes… By the time she died, there were
around 1,700 origami cranes. After her death, her last five cranes were carried
into the world by her surviving brother as a sign of peace. The Crane for
Europe has been kept in the Peace Center in the city
of Schlaining, since 2009. The tiny Sadako crane is
considered one of the peace centre’s greatest “treasures”. Visitors from all
over the world come to see this symbol of peace. The crane can also be found in
the castle´s emblem.
Ms. Ruiko Friesacher, a loyal participant in
the UPF peace conferences at Schlaining Castle,
folded 2,400 cranes during the pandemics as a symbol of healing the world and
world peace. All conference participants were invited to take one of these
cranes home with them.
Einführung und
Koordination: Johann Rechberger, Präsident „Föderation für Weltfrieden – UPF
Burgenland“
Vortragende:
Prof. Dr. Titus Leber, Schöpfer zahlreicher groß angelegter
interaktiv-kultureller Multimediaproduktionen wie „Borobudur – Paths
to Enlightenment“ und derzeit „Africa Interactive“
Prof. Dr. Elmar Kuhn, Präsident von „Coalition of Faith-Based Organizations
Central Europe“
Tatjana Christelbauer M.A., Gründerin und Präsidentin „Agency for Cultural Diplomacy Austria“
Anela Cindrak, Akkordeonistin und Musikprofessorin aus Montenegro, Studium an der
Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava
Peter Haider, Präsident „Universal Peace Federation Austria“