In
1999 visual artists Cameron Davis and Sally Linder came together with
a small group of artists in the Vermont USA studio of Janet Fredericks to share their
common sorrows
about
the state of the world. Out of their questioning and desire to promote
global healing arose a collaborative idea. As artists they recognized
that art is a process that promotes healing and that changes in awareness
precede meaningful action. Establishing a temenos, a magical sacred circle
where special rules apply and extraordinary events inevitably occur, each
artist made an 8" (20.3cm) x 8" (20.3cm) x 2"
(5cm) Temenos Book: a handmade book filled with pages of visual prayers/affirmations
for global healing, peace, and gratitude.
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Davis
and Linder went on to create the Temenos Project: Temenos Books and Earth
Masks, combining artistic
expression
with the inspirational Earth Charter, an international peoples treaty
calling for a just, sustainable, and peaceful global society. See
www.earthcharter.org for more information on the Earth Charter. Utilizing
the Temenos Project to introduce
the
Earth Charter to educational and private sectors, they guided individuals
and groups in the creation of Temenos Books and Earth Masks, believing
that the artistic process can inspire people to a deeper commitment to
Earth and to the Earth Charter principles.
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Over
5,000 Vermont artists, teachers, schoolchildren, university students and
community members participated in the Temenos Project, making either books,
or masks of Earth elements. Teachers involved in the project engaged their
students in discussion of the Earth
Charter principles, generating the kind of internal reflection that can
lead to a change in attitudes, values, and behavior.
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On
September 9, 2001, at Shelburne Farms in Vermont, over seventeen hundred
participants at the event, for love of Earth, A Celebration of the Earth
Charter, individually made a visual prayer/affirmation for Earth.
These
Earth prayers were bound into multiple Temenos Books. The Ark of Hope,
a sculptural painting/vessel, designed and painted by Sally Linder, built
by Kevin Jenness, and fabric lined by Beth Haggart, holds the Temenos
Books and the Earth Charter handwritten on a piece of handmade papyrus.
On September 11, 2001, in a spontaneous response to the terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington, DC,
Sally Linder and friends began walking the Ark of Hope to New York City. Hundreds of
supporters joined the walk which took 2 months and traveled through four states. Communities
along the route were invited to create and add their own prayers and images
for global healing, peace and gratitude to the Temenos Books. The Ark of Hope with the Temenos
Books was exhibited at the United Nations in January-February 2002.
Organizations, schools and universities, faith communities,
museums, and conferences around the world have continued to create
Temenos Books. Visit NEWS and EVENTS section on this
website for the stories. Residing in the Ark of Hope there are over 15,000
peoples' images and words for global healing, peace and gratitude
contained in hundreds of Temenos Books.
People are invited to create their own Temenos Book or Temenos Book
page to add to the Ark. Click on TEMENOS BOOKMAKING
for details and a suggested lesson plan.
Visit CONTACT for mailing details.
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