Sri Chinmoy:
The Peace Meditation at the United Nations

Adjacent to the Meditation "Room of Quiet" at the UN, there was an event in front of the stained Glass window by March Chagall, on 24 October 2005.

A number of members of the Peace Meditation at the UN attended.

This occasion also marked the 60th Anniversary of the United Nations as well as the Centenary of the Birth of Dag Hammarskjold. (When he was Secretary-General, Mr Hammarskjold had been responsible for the re-design of the meditation room in 1957.)

The event was supported by the Maecenas World Patrimony Foundation which was chaired by Vladimir Patrovsky former Director of the UN in Geneva and Under-Secretary-General of the UN. It was closely associated with the NGO Mr. Petrovsky founded : Comprehensive Dialogue Among Civilizations (CDAC).

The Secretary-General of CDAC, Shashanka Michael Karlen. was also present. (More Detail Below)

UN Dedication Ceremony for Restored Chagall Peace Window

– 24 October 2005

The Ceremony took place in front of the Chagall Peace Window in the Visitors’ Lobby

at United Nations Headquarters in New York.
Besides Vladimir Petrovsky (see speech + photo), high Level participation included:

• the President of the General Assembly, Mr. Jan Eliasson;
• the Deputy Secretary-General, Mrs. Louise Frechette (see her speech + photo);
• the Master of Ceremony, Mr. Shashi Tharoor;
• Marc Chagall’s granddaughter (see photo)
• Several Ambassadors, delegates and staff.
• MC: Shashi Tharoor, Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information,

Group photo of VP and all in front of Chagall window at event
http://www.unmultimedia.org/s/photo/detail/100/0100055.html

Inspiring  speeches also were supportive of the efforts of the Maecenas World Patrimony Foundation

(Insert Phto of Sri Chinmoy with with reps),

chaired by Vladimir Petrovsky and closely linked to his other organization, Comprehensive Dialogue among Civilizations (CDAC) which was headed by former Secretary-General, Shashanka Michael Karlen.

United Nations Television filmed the whole ceremony and some of the official photographs are on this page or in gallery below.

Following the Ceremony, all went to the General Assembly Hall for the evening concert by the Swedish Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

After the concert, Mr. Petrovsky and company went to the reception in the Delegates Dining Room offered by the Swedish Mission. Mr Petrovsky and the Secretary-General Kofi Annan had an extended conversation. Later many of  Mr Petrovsky’s colleagues were introduced to the Secretary-General

(add  photo of Rijuta Tooker shaking hands with S-G).

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The evening previous to the Chagall Peace Window event, Sri Chinmoy graciously hosted a dinner at Annam Brahma for Mr. Petrovsky and representatives from the Maecenas World Patrimony Foundation of which Mr. Petrovsky is the Chair and through whose efforts the Chagall Peace Window was restored

Possibly separate post for 23 Oct event with extra photos  (see photos).

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Additional Information for Restoration of Chagall Peace Window, 24 October 2005
If use photos from links below,  give credit to the United Nations and the UN photographer..

Remarks by Deputy Secretary-General at Dedication Ceremony (provides explanation of the Dedication Ceremony
http://www.un.org/news/Press/docs/2005/dsgsm272.doc.htm

Photo of Deputy Secretary-General Louise Fréchette speaking
http://www.unmultimedia.org/photo/detail.jsp?id=100/100053&key=147&query=Dag%20Hammarskold&sf=date

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Speech by H.E. Dr. Vladimir Petrovsky at the Dedication Ceremony
http://www.worldpatrimony.org/speech.html

(see at end of post)

Photo of Mr. Petrovsky speaking in front of Chagall window at event
http://www.unmultimedia.org/s/photo/detail/100/0100054.html

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Photo of Marc Chagall’s granddaughter speaking at the Ceremony; see text under photo –
http://usforeignpolicy.about.com/od/unitednations/ig/U-N–Photo-Tour/Peace-Window-at-United-Nations.htm

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See also:

• Interesting photos and text of Chagall at UN and his Peace Window (+ U Thant)

http://www.un.org/Depts/dhl/dag/chagallwindow.htm

 

• Beautiful photo of the Chagall window on UN site

https://www.un.org/cyberschoolbus/untour/subcha.htm

 

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 Click on images below for larger or different resolution Photo – Image:

Maecenas World Patrimony Foundation

Text spoken by H.E. Dr. Vladimir Petrovsky

at the Dedication Ceremony of the Restoration Project of Marc Chagall’s ‘Peace Window’ in Memory of Dag Hammarskjøld, United Nations’ Headquarters, 24-10-2005.

It is a great pleasure for me at this important event in the United Nations to represent the Maecenas World Patrimony Foundation, which initiated, performed and donated the restoration of the Marc Chagall’s ‘Peace Window’.

A gift to the United Nations is a gift to humanity and belongs to the cultural heritage of humankind. We all share the responsibility to preserve and care for this. Maecenas World Patrimony Foundations aims to conserve ‘orphaned’ art and historic objects of the United Nations’ offices and its agencies; ‘orphaned’ in the sense of that it does not fall under the natural responsibility of a specific donor, being as a rule a member state or other existing organization.

The ‘Peace Window’ is a good example, as this outstanding art work was in 1964 a gift of the artist Marc Chagall and the Staff of the United Nations to the memory of the late Secretary-General Dag Hammerskjøld.

The generous support of the initiator of Maecenas World Patrimony Foundation, Geelvinck Hinlopen Huis Foundation in Amsterdam, and its Chairman, Jurn Buisman, who is with us this evening, enabled our Foundation to restore the ‘Peace Window, to its full former glory in summer 2001.

Today, the third and main preservation project of Maecenas World Patrimony Foundation concerns another major UN-symbol of our world, the landmark Celestial Sphere at the Cour d’Honneur of the Palais des Nations in Geneva. This chef d’oeuvre of the American Art Deco artist Paul Manship – here in New York famous for his ‘Prometheus’ sculpture at the pond of Rockefeller Square – was a foundation’s gift to the League of Nations.

Over the years, due to weather conditions the Celestial Sphere deteriorated to such extend that it is now in great peril. Maecenas World Patrimony Foundation already researched its present state and defined together with the UNOG a preservation plan. I wish to take the opportunity to tell that we gladly welcome all support for the restoration project of the Celestial Sphere, as one of those orphaned art objects, belonging to the legacy of humankind.

It is symbolic that the Celestial Sphere, like Chagall’s Window of Peace, serves as a strong reminder that despite of all the cultural and religious differences, we are inhabitants of one of the planets of the Galaxy, the Earth and the time has come to think in terms of Pax Universalis rather than any other Paxes.

To what has been already said about Marc Chagall, I wish to add that for my generation Chagall paintings were not only a colorful fantasy of images from different cultures, but also an impressive message for human oriented approach in politics and diplomacy.

I was privileged to have had the chance to visit Marc Chagall in his residence in St. Paul-de-Vence in April 1972. I was very much impressed by his vision of our world as the global unity, which is in need of the light of liberty. In this conversation, Chagall several times referred to Dag Hammarskjøld as an example of an outstanding political leader who with tremendous courage led the United Nations to practical peace-making actions, despite the difficulties between East and West of that time. I cannot but mention that in his talk like in his paintings Chagall with great respect. He referred to his folk life in Vitebsk as a child and his involvement in cultural activities in Belorussia, Moscow and Petrograd, before his emigration to France in 1922.

In conclusion, I would like to express my strong belief that the restored Peace Window will serve as a strong reminder that in our new rapidly changing world, the changes should be tackled in an evolutionary, constitutional democratic way.

To provide security, both for the states and for the human being: security in all aspects, not only from violence, but also from hunger, deceases and economical degradation. And here the United Nations should play its unique role as the center of agreed action among the states and all new players at the global arena.