What is Peace? The panelists offered three different examples of current projects working toward peace and reconciliation in the world today. Alberto L’Abate talked about what his experience has taught him about how to promote peace and nonviolence in the world today, reminding us that “War and peace do not happen spontaneously but are processes that are born long before and develop little by little”.
It is necessary to intervene at the right moment when a conflict is on the horizon, L’Abate said, and it is also necessary for governments to reverse their current spending pattern of $1 for conflict prevention and $10,000 for war. Joyce Apsel spoke about the role of Peace Museums Worldwide in educating future generations about the history of peace, nonviolence and reconciliation, discussing several examples of how peace museums promote the memory of the past and remind us how critical peace is to preventing human suffering. And Vittorio Pallotti, who curated the accompanying exhibition “The Seeds of Nonviolence”, talked about how the archive of posters that he helps maintain captures the spirit of peace the world over.
“Recent events in Egypt,” Alberto L’Abate underlined, “reinforce the need for us all to promote a culture of peace!"
Program
3:00 p.m. Introduction Joyce Apsel, Professor New York University
Round Table
Italian Nonviolence, Peace Posters and the Casa per la Pace Vittorio Pallotti, Co-Founder of Casa per la Pace ‘La Filanda’, exhibition curator, and author of 50 Anni di pace in Europa: eventi e immagini (2000)
Peace Museums Worldwide: Educating Future Generations about the History of Peace, Nonviolence and Reconciliation Joyce Apsel, Professor New York University, Representative of International Museums for Peace at the United Nations, and co-editor of Peace Museums: Past and Present (2008)
Prevention of Armed Conflicts and the Nonviolent Peace Corps Alberto L’Abate, Sociologist, former Professor at the University of Florence, Peace Ambassador in Kosovo and author of Per Un Futuro Senza Guerre (2008)
