Poppy after Irving Penn – 40 cm x 40 cm, oil

I like a name that sounds from “elsewhere” and makes you want to meet the person who bears it. Rosewitha Lanquetin comes from Germany where she worked in education. Later she travelled the world and today she can look back on a past full of events and experiences which would notably lead up to her discovering UNIPAZ. An initiative concerning art was how we met and since we have become friends. Anke and I have decided that from now on the art we make, besides giving us creative pleasure, could also be a way to help others by donating the proceeds of our sales to a good cause.

Field of Irises- 80 cm x 60 cm, oil on paper

Last year we organised an exhibition for “Handicap International”. This year we have opted for UNIPAZ, an association whose aim it is to work towards peace. Such a goal might appear utopian in the world we live in, but ideas have legs and you can never know whether that of UNIPAZ might not one day come to fruition. In any case for Anke and for me the goal is certainly worth our contribution! Roswitha who lives in Dieulefit is the person who coordinates the activities of UNIPAZ in France and she is seconded by a group of enthusiastic believers. On 27, 28 and 29 September 2024, UNIPAZ will organise a Peace Festival in la Halle in Dieulefit on the theme “La Paix en Oeuvre” (Peace in Action).

Orange Iris – 80 cm x 80 cm, oil

Concurrently, Anke and I will hold an exhibition in support of UNIPAZ’s work entitled “l’Art au service de la paix” (Art at the service of peace) from 14 to 29 September in the Galerie Craft in Dieulefit’s main street, rue du Bourg. As Roswitha is also a painter it seemed an opportune moment in the run-up to the Peace Festival to learn more about UNIPAZ and her own artistic activities.

Let me begin with UNIPAZ. The idea behind UNIPAZ is that human beings are born with the aptitude and resources to live in peace. For anyone who has a basic knowledge and understanding of history and an eye for what is happening in the world today this may be hard to imagine. When a philosopher whose name I have forgotten was asked to name a synonym for life, he replied “war”! This shows to which extent our references are nourished by memories of the past. If we continue as we have always done, we will get the same results: war and violence. As far as UNIPAZ is concerned now is the time to make the courageous decision to change, because the destruction of the planet threatens the survival of humanity. It is bold not to say revolutionary, to think that we can break the vicious circle of devastation and create a world that is fairer, more respectful and happier too.

Song of the Anemones – 50 cm X 50 cm, oil

The supporters of UNIPAZ are convinced that living in peace can be learned and prepared for by practicing. Like a sportsman or a musician, everyone can develop their own capacity for peace. This requires knowledge and good training, accompanied by a coach and a team. This is what UNIPAZ is trying to practice as well as how to pass on the know-how. Our society needs peace-loving, empathetic citizens who can act as mediators in a society that is torn apart and on the brink of collapse.

So why not try a different approach? Learning peace by using conflict as a means to overcome it? It’s a much more difficult task than waging war against each other. This original philosophy was the basis for the foundation of UNIPAZ University in Brasilia by Pierre Weil (1924‑2008), a French psychologist.

Strange Landscape – 100 cm x 100 cm, acrylic

He is the author of numerous academic works in Portuguese, also translated into French. After conducting exhaustive research into the traditions of wisdom in the East and combining them with the knowledge acquired through modern science in the West, he devised a teaching method aimed at developing peace within oneself and with others, in harmony with nature. In 2000 Pierre Weil, founder and rector of the University for Peace in Brasilia, received recognition for the universality of his ideas from the Director-General of UNESCO, who awarded him an honourable mention for his contribution to education and the culture of peace. UNIPAZ’s peace-building programme includes workshops, conferences and events. The topics covered include how to explore and develop, both individually and collectively, a culture of peace and non-violence that fosters dialogue, mutual understanding and cooperation. As Pierre Weil used to say: “If you want peace, prepare for peace!”

Art at the service of peace?

Like most creative people, Roswitha has more than one string to her bow, including painting, which she practices with talent and enthusiasm. Her studio at home is full of light, as are her paintings. When I look at her work, I get the impression that above all she wants to focus on everything that is beautiful in life. Nor do I see her dwelling on dark subjects, let alone violent ones. She puts a lot of colours into her paintings, giving free reign to her drive and energy. Roswitha also showed me her sketchbooks. I am always attentive to these quick, unconstrained annotations by artists, because they are often more revealing than their finished works which can lose some of their spontaneity along the way. They are marvellous vectors for conveying the immediate. In Roswitha’s work, the characters sketched on the spot, often with humour, like snapshots of life, show her empathy and a sense of observation. At the same time, they speak volumes about the way she sees the world and her fellow human beings.

Of her creative moments she says: “I’m happy when I capture the mystery of the moment. That elusive thing that passes by in a fraction of a second and caresses me with its wings like a game of hide-and-seek. This sensation can be provoked by the song of a bird, a formation of clouds or by the mistral wind that rattles the leaves of the poplar trees, reminding me of the waves of the ocean. The beauty of creation carries me to another place, and I feel like a “Rose of Life”.

Nightly Dreams – 80 cm x 40 cm, acrylic and oil

“It’s in the moments of silence that these gratifying moments occur, when I take the time to do NOTHING and feel EVERYTHING. What a joy it is to receive the gifts of the outside world through sensations that are then transformed into an alchemical process in my inner crucible: music calls to the dance of colours. I’m seized by a surge of inspiration that overwhelms me and demands to be experienced immediately. I drop everything, there is nothing more important right now. I forget the passage of time, nothing else exists, it’s pure LIFE, extasy. What happens on the canvas doesn’t belong to me and amazes me. There’s a back-and-forth movement between the canvas and my eyes and my feelings, a dance that I want to maintain for as long as possible because I know it will soon fade away.

Spring – 100 cm x 120 cm, acrylic and oil

The creative process is a transfiguration of what lives, of which I am a part, and which I try to honour as best I can with my palette and my brushes. Often, I feel perfectly in tune, sometimes it feels like the pains of labour. But what a joy it is to be part of the process of giving birth!

It’s an art of living that leads to a state of fulfilment. Art in this way can save the world.

UNIPAZ France – association Law of 1901
unipaz.france@gmail.com – www.unipazfrance.org
Tel. : 06 78 73 18 46