Handover of the Peace Column by artist Ulrike Bolenz to the International Club ICAA in the Foreign Ministry of Germany by Diplomatic World Institute
Pictured (l-r)Nicole Baroness von Vietinghoff-Scheel, Barbara Dietrich and Edgar A Gansen
31 May 2021
The presence of the peace column in the International Club ICAA in the Foreign Ministry in Berlin is of particular importance because all German diplomats are sent out into the world from here.
The work of art connects cultures, religions, peoples and countries within the world community and promotes peace and prosperity through compassion, care and honesty with respect for the identity of others.
The Peace Column is on permanent loan to the International Club in the Federal Foreign Office.
The artistic works related to the subject of “Laughter” by Ulrike Bolenz
Freedom, understanding, sympathy, soulfulness, optimism, self-confidence, sovereignty - all positive terms which are understood in connection to human laughter.
Laughter can be understood as a form of communication between people, which, in its conflict-reducing effect, encourages human interactions, creates a community spirit and consensus.
But this positive effect of forming a strong sense of community also contains a hidden essential anarchic feature of laugh: the critical questioning of and disrespect for authorities. Thus, authorities often feel provoked by this openly emotional expression - as has been demonstrated recently.
The subject "laugh" can rarely be found in the history of art, as on the one hand the early clergy condemned laughter as unchristian, and on the other hand, the cause of laughter is not often depicted in works of Fine Arts like paintings, sculptures, etc.
Nevertheless, several early Masters such as Frans Hals, Rubens, etc. have been dealing with this subject, lately also Chinese artists.
The installations and paintings of artist Ulrike Bolenz often contains social, political and scientific time-critical themes and thus broach the issue of fears of modern man.
Her artistic works are emotional, touching and thought-provoking.
For twenty years now, the topic of humour - in the expression of laughter - is already part of the oeuvre of Ulrike Bolenz. In 1996, an installation of hers, a group of laughing women, was on display at the famous Berliner Dom, in the following years in French churches and 2005 in Ghent in the chapel Campo Santo.
The delight, expressed in the art works with the theme of laughter, Ulrike Bolenz also understands as a resistance against the human atrocities in our time.
The latest tragic situations in the world confirm a fortiori the topicality of her works and can also be understood as an artistic effort to preserve optimism and joie de vivre and to reduce fears of the people.
The artistic work of Ulrike Bolenz includes sculptures and large-scale installations in a unique photo sculpture technique developed by Ulrike Bolenz and works on canvas and wood in oil, acrylic and mixed media.