U.N. World Peace Day

bristol | peace | event notice Wednesday September 10, 2008 14:57 by Nick Thomas - The Pierian Centre info at pieriancentre dot com The Pierian Centre, 27 Portland Square, St Pauls, Bristol BS2 8SA 0117 924 4512

Sunday 21st September

21st September is celebrated around the globe as U.N. World Peace Day – and Bristol is doing its bit! The city hosts a packed programme of events including film, music, an interfaith ceremony at Bristol Cathedral and a conflict resolution workshop.

Chloe Goodchild of The Naked Voice

War and conflict seem to be a permanent part of the modern World order. Lethal weapons and small arms are available everywhere – and greed, intolerance, fear and hunger are driving people to use them. The question posed by World Peace Day is what can we do about this? Are we just spectators? Or, in today’s globalised world, are we in some way involved? And if that’s the case, then we have to ask: Are we part of the problem or part of the solution?

The events of World Peace Day are for everyone – for people from every religious background and for those who don’t consider themselves religious at all. The Day hopes to bring a great diversity of people together and to focus them on the one issue of World Peace. Events take place at 3 locations around Bristol – time-tabled to let people enjoy some or all of them. The locations are the Pierian Centre in St Pauls, Bristol Cathedral and College Green, and finally the Arnolfini.

Events at the Pierian Centre run from 10am through to 4pm. Chloe Goodchild of The Naked Voice starts the day, leading a Creative Conflict Resolution workshop from 10am–3pm. Chloe runs training throughout Europe and North America, working with figures like the Dalai Lama and best-selling Rumi poet Coleman Barks. Her workshop explores your innate capacity to communicate with your self and others without judgement, and will equip participants with the skills to engage creatively with everyday conflicts. The workshop costs £40 (some concs available), bookable from The Naked Voice office on 0117 927 7020 or now@thenakedvoice.com

Other events at the Pierian Centre include screenings of both the original Peace One Day film that launched World Peace Day (10–11.30am), and the recently released sequel The Day After Peace (1.45–3.15pm). The future Peace Garden at the Pierian Centre becomes the focus at 3.30pm with a Sowing the Seed ceremony. And events conclude at 4pm with a Procession with Bells & Instruments from the Pierian Centre to College Green. Everyone is encouraged to bring their own bell or instrument to contribute to the swelling tide of beautiful noise!

People from all over the city are invited to assemble at 4.45pm on College Green – ready for an inter-faith Peace Ceremony in Bristol Cathedral. This collaboration with the Bristol Inter-Faith Forum will involve faith-leaders from the city’s main faiths and religions, and will include an address from the Cathedral’s Canon Tim Higgins. The Ceremony will start with music of the spirit from Heartwaves, to be joined by peace prayers and chants from Tim Chalice, Chloe Goodchild and other musicians. A large Peace Candle will be lit, and from this people can light smaller candles to place on a World Map, high-lighting conflict zones and areas of hardship around the world.

World Peace Day concludes in style at the Arnolfini at 7.30pm with a screening of Fiona Meadley’s new film War and Peace 08. The film consists of 8 short videos by different artists, collated and compiled by artist film-maker Fiona Kam Meadley. War and Peace 08 is about a universal dialogue, and asks the questions: How can War be a solution to anything? – and What does it take to build peace? Discussion afterwards will be chaired by Professor Paul Gough, Dean of Art, Media & Design at the University of the West of England. Tickets are £3 (£2 concs) from the Arnolfini (0117 917 2300).

For further details please contact Planting Peace (0117 902 1829; www.plantingpeace.com), The Naked Voice (0117 927 7020; www.thenakedvoice.com), the Arnolfini (0117 917 2300; www.arnolfini.org.uk), or the Pierian Centre (0117 924 4512; www.pieriancentre.com).

Bristol Cathedral

Siyamo by Mahmoud Reza Sani - War & Peace 08