2010 Gallery

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Peace Dove
Suzana Djilas-Gaal
Sunbury, VIC, Australia

"I'm writing to say thank you for this wonderful project!

I created Peace Dove for the GAP 2010. As I wasn't sure where in the world my artwork would end up, I chose the Dove as a cross-cultural, archetypal symbol of Peace. Dot art features in a lot of my work, and is often used by Indigenous Australian artists, so I thought that including dot art in this piece would help my Peace buddy connect with where the art came from - Australia. It also conveys the idea that our desire for Peace is universal, no matter where we live, and is even more ancient than the longest surviving culture in the world. I also really wanted to create a piece that was aesthetically pleasing so that my Peace Buddy would want to frame it and hang it in their home as a constant reminder of Peace.

We also encouraged others in our local community to participate. Children from a local school created a stunning textile banner filled with Peace images. It really touched my heart to see how much effort and detail the students put into their Peace Art. Before the banner was exchanged with a school in the USA, we displayed it in our store, where it received a lot of admiration and initiated many conversations about Peace and hopefully created more interest for 2012! This experience taught me to never underestimate the profound impact which visual messages of Peace can have on others. I will definitely participate in the GAP again!

Many many thanks for creating this awe-inspiring project and for providing all the support posters and flyers which helped us to promote this project in our community."

Warmest regards,
Suzana Djilas-Gaal
Australia