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18 Reconcilliation |
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Reconciliation:
Immediately in front of the University's J.
B. Priestley Library on the university campus is a
bronze sculpture of a man and a woman embracing over a barrier (the
barbed wire separating them has been lost). It was the original of
a sculpture created by Josephina de Vasconcellos
(1904 - 2005) called 'Reunion' and unveiled here on 4th May
1977 by Nobel Peace prize winner, Sean
McBride. It was renamed ‘Reconciliation’
later. The artist was present to celebrate the 21st anniversary of
the Department of Peace Studies (see
site 21) in 1994. On that
occasion she said: |
| 'The
sculpture was originally conceived in the aftermath of the War. Europe
was in shock, people were stunned. I read in a newspaper about a woman
who crossed Europe on foot to find her husband, and I was so moved
that I made the sculpture. Then I thought that it wasn't only about
the reunion of two people but hopefully a reunion of nations which
had been fighting'. |
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are copies of the sculpture in Hiroshima, in the grounds of
Stormont Castle in Northern Ireland, in Coventry
Cathedral and in Germany on the site of the Berlin Wall. |
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| 19
Commonweal
Collection |
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| The
Commonweal Collection: The name 'Commonweal' means
'for the common good'. This Collection is a special library
of some 11,000 books, pamphlets and other resources committed to nonviolent
approaches to social change, with the complete works of Gandhi as
its core. It came to Bradford in 1975 to be a resource for the newly
established School of Peace Studies. It is a public
library but in the University's J. B. Priestley Library.
It is open to anyone who wants to use its resources. Please ask at
the reception desk at the main entrance to the J.B. Priestley Library. |
| It
began as the personal library of David
Hoggett, who was paraplegic following a serious accident
while he was working as an international volunteer. The library grew
in the commune in Merthyr Tydfil that was set up to support him and
was established as a Trust in 1963. It was transferred to Bradford
when David Hoggett died in 1975. |
| Some
of the social action resources of the Commonweal Collection are now
also sited at Treehouse, the new Bradford Centre
for Nonviolence, with its Fair Trade Cafe (2 Ashgrove, opposite
the University). |
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Nuclear
Disarmament Symbol |
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The
nuclear disarmament symbol: The Commonweal Collection
keeps the original drawings of the nuclear disarmament symbol designed
by Gerald Holtom in February
1958. |
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| In
a letter to Hugh Brock, in the Commonweal archives, Gerald
Holtom recalls his despair at the threat of nuclear
annihilation: |
| 'I
drew myself: the representative of an individual in despair, with
palms out stretched outwards and downwards in the manner of Goya's
peasant before the firing squad. I formalised the drawing into a line
and put a circle round it. It was ridiculous at first and such a puny
thing....' |
| The
symbol was also the semaphore signs for the letters N and D
(Nuclear Disarmament). However, Holtom was not satisfied with
this as it did not convey the positive need for creative and unilateral
action that he knew was necessary to combat the threat of nuclear
war. In the early hours of the morning, he was painting slogans on
cloth to make banners for a march of the Direct Action Committee
Against Nuclear War, when he received a flash of insight.
The symbol turned upside down could represent the Tree of Life, a
symbol that for Christians was one of hope and resurrection. Also,
the inverted image made a semaphore U - for unilateral! |
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few months later, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
group asked if it could adopt the symbol. It has now become a universal
symbol of peace and protest. |
| Kenneth
and David Hockney |
| Kenneth
(1904 - 1978), artist father of the internationally famous artist
David Hockney, created
many CND posters for use in marches and demonstrations during the
late 1950's and 1960's; the image above is from one of his posters
at the Peace Museum (see
site 16). Kenneth was a staunch member of the Methodist
Peace Fellowship. David Hockney did military service as a
Conscientious Objector and worked in a hospital from 1957 - 1958. |
| Although
there is no public acknowledgement of his campaigning, or of his and
his son's contributions, amongst so many others, Kenneth Hockney needs
to be remembered. |
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