It started a world movement, finally introducing an image for the majority of mankind living and sharing an already friendly environment. The elephant as a symbol of a powerful and peaceful species, that man can aspire or chose to be. Who is truly grand will need no suppression of the other, experiences no fear since he is part of an overwhelming majority. The world seems to be in permanent crisis
. Yet men aspire to serenity, peace and harmony. This is what we long for. Our brain functions through images. This is what we generate.The elephant is not a human invention. It is a majestic figure of great size and power living in harmony with its surrounding. Non abusive in its power that it imposes when necessary, but never gratuitously, even careful with its different partners with whom it shares its environment. Elephants for Peace, a movement open to participation. Everybody with a desire for a harmonious world is welcome. The common symbol, the elephant, since it manifests what we can chose to be. Powerful and peaceful at the same time. What is the goal of Elephants for Peace? To deliver a key concept to humanity: an image combining peace and power, strength and courage with a peaceful attitude. It does exist. The elephant, a sympathetic and powerful figure able to deliver a new self image of man: power and suppression need not go together. Getting away from the self images of wolf and sheep or the eternal image of the lion as a king ruling with cruelty and overwhelming power over the unequal counterparts not equipped with the same physical power and aggressiveness. How did it start? Elephants for Peace is a vision that started in Berlin. A city where the artificial division of a country and with it the division of the world into East and West was overcome in one night. No fighting, no blood shed, no shooting. What was the incredible power that shifted the world of enemies into friends in a matter of hours? The power to make this shift apparent in one night was JOY. How to create joy on existing divisions and artificially created differences? To be able to test the new symbol, the conflicting inner border of Cyprus was chosen. A division existing since 1974, an unresolved conflict, an open wound now within Europe. The last divided capital. Will a symbol be able to change a real situation? Who will produce the symbol? The artist? A group of artists? Rose Marie Gnausch decided to go worldwide. She started an international calling on the web. A social change through a social sculpture. Everybody was allowed to participate. She received 700 elephant contributions which she shipped to Cyprus. After 2 years of intense preparation, she was able to win the Goethe Centre and the EKATE as collaborative partners. But mainly, it was their heads who understood the specialness of the project. A world without borders achieved through imagery. Finally, the mayor of the Greek side allowed us to work at the checkpoint area, and two days before the opening, the Turkish mayor lifted the boycott. The day of the opening saw a miracle. A joyful festive site on both sides of the divide overcoming any differences. A success story for human effort to show and manifest its desire for a peaceful world. Schengen 2010. Elephants for Peace appeared in the former border town of Luxembourg to show that a world without borders is not an utopia. It already exists. It already celebrates a quarter of a century. It has a site and a name. It can be adopted by former enemies. For centuries, France and Germany were ferocious enemies. It was overcome. The Schengen agreement has celebrated 25 years. It seemed to go unnoticed by most of the world. Another miracle was produced, and the world without borders exists. A former site of a border between enemy countries, is now a symbol for a larger and more powerful area and a union between people and nations. Conflicts can come to an end. The majority of the people have this desire. To live in peace and harmony with each other. It can happen to you, if you have the desire. Elephants for Peace was there to give the site an image, since images is what our brain produces and can retain. Images can travel the world. The world without borders exists. Elephants for Peace has had projects in Nicosia in Cyprus, Schengen in Luxembourg, Oswiecim in Poland, Berlin, Cologne, Nuremberg and Kassel in Germany, Strasbourg in France, and many more places. Rose Marie Gnausch has until now organised the events, but, as it is a concept, projects can be created by anyone, anywhere, anytime.
