What would icons such as Archbishop Desmond Tutu, world-famous authors Paul Theroux, Paulo Coelho, Nadine Gordimer and Isabel Allende say on the subject of wisdom? Hands that Shape Humanity is a unique exhibition showcasing the creative expressions of 38 people who have made a mark in this world, be it through their writing, music, humanitarian work, sports and career achievements or philosophy.
The inspiring exhibition is at the Iziko Slave Lodge, 49 Adderley Street, Cape Town, from
26 November 2004.
Other participants include statesmen, Shimon Peres and F W de Klerk; musicians Miriam Makeba, Cesaria Evora, Carlos Santana; activists and dissidents Saad Edin Ibrahim, Wei Jingsheng, Anita Roddick, Richard Lugar, Sam Nunn; artist Marc Quinn; designer Philippe Starck, philosophers Tom Peters, Adin Steinsaltz, Edward de Bono, Norman Lamm; film director Jane Campion; actress Gillian Anderson, chess player Garry Kasparov; authors Kerri Hulme, Tom Robbins, Chinua Achebe, Georgia Byng, Douglas Coupland; humanitarian Noor Al-Hussein; architect Richard Rogers; scientist Craig Venter; sports personalities Jonah Lomu and Wayne Gretszky.
Henk Groenewald, executive director: Hands that Shape Humanity, explains: "We asked people who have lived extraordinary lives to answer one simple question: 'If there was only one message of wisdom you would leave behind for humanity, what would it be?' These unique and original messages of wisdom have been captured through the media of film, photography, print, sculpture, painting and sketching. The result is an amazing, multi-media humanitarian exhibition that has broken new ground and will impact millions of people."
The Hands that Shape Humanity exhibition was created for the Desmond Tutu Peace Centre, and will tour the world as an ever-expanding exhibition that will continue its conversation with over 400 participants over the next 12 years. A complete physical and digital version of the exhibition will be housed at the Peace Centre and will also be available as a digital exhibition on the Internet from 2006.
According to Groenewald, the Hands that Shape Humanity is the largest humanitarian exhibition ever created since the 1955 'Life of Man' exhibition. "It is the world's first exhibition on wisdom and it is one of the largest traveling art exhibitions. It will grow from a spectacular 280 pieces to more than 700 pieces by the end of 2005."
Hands that Shape Humanity answers to one of the Desmond Tutu Peace Centre's key goals that aims to create social responsible, world-class, global learning experiences and activities for as wide an audience as possible.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu himself urges everybody to go see this visually powerful exhibition. "We need to create opportunities for people all over the world to open their minds and to actively engage in meaningful conversation with each other. The Hands that Shape Humanity will inspire personal reflection around essential issues in life that affect all of us, regardless of who we are and what we do."
