ARTFORPEACE
The artforpeace project was initiated by Prof. Joachim Lothar Gartner and Mag. Magdalena Wenta in 2014 as a result of the first military conflict in Ukraine.
The continuation of the war on 24 February 2022 has shown us that our project is of particular importance. In Gdańsk (Gdansk, Poland) we are supported in our efforts by Mag. Katarzyna Koperska, because together with the Romuald Koperski Foundation we pursue the same goal - the promotion of international dialogue.
Cooperation between states is a major challenge. Art can play an important role here and raise people's awareness of many aspects, as well as bring foreign cultures closer together and connect them.
Intercultural communication promotes dialogue and leads to better interpersonal understanding. We can have a feeling of security and fulfillment through our own work and respect for other people, but also through respect for nature. Thanks to new technologies, we now have the opportunity to acquire critical knowledge. Let's use it for the good of humanity!
We hope that our efforts will also contribute to using art to counter the current potential for aggression in the world.
born as a twin during the war in Steinschönau, today Kamenický Šenov, in the Czech Republic. Immediately after birth, the mother had to leave her homeland with the two twin brothers. In 1949, the children's father was finally found in Vienna and the family was reunited in Austria. He received his artistic training in Vienna, Augsburg and Munich. In 2005, Joachim Lothar Gartner was awarded the title of professor by the Federal President of the Republic of Austria. From 2006 to 2012 he held the presidency of the Vienna Künstlerhaus. From 2012 to 2020 he was president of Bildrecht Vienna.
Together with his twin brother Hansjürgen Gartner, the two artists set „Zeichen für Frieden” (en.: signs for peace) wherever possible, especially in talks and in the catalogues to art exhibitions that they organise in large numbers.
born in Gdańsk (Poland), grew up in the Austrian capital Vienna, where she lived from 1981 to 2021. She graduated in art history from the University of Vienna. Since 1999 she has been working as a curator, organiser and idea generator of international exhibition projects, mainly dedicated to contemporary art.
Due to the difficult pandemic situation, in 2021 she began to engage in book projects and film reports in the field of intercultural dialogue. She is currently working also in Gdańsk (Poland) as an organiser of integration projects combining language and art.
lives in Gdańsk (Poland) since 1984; graduated from the Faculty of Transport Economics, University in Gdańsk. Immediately after graduation she gained professional experience in various commercial banks, working for 12 years as a director of the Gdansk branch of Bank Spółdzielczy in Sztum.
A change of the area and a new challenge brought her the work in an advertising and art agency in Sopot, where she specialized in comprehensive support of conferences and cultural events. There she was able to use her excellent skills in building contacts and maintaining good relationships with clients. She loves the varied, cross-cultural work in this field.
founded in 2011 by her husband Romuald Koperski, a great adventurer and man of action.
Katarzyna Koperska is a graduate of the Nicolaus Copernicus University (Geopgraphy studies). She combined her education and passion for untouched nature with her professional and social work and the challenges of new global trends. She is co-organiser of many international tourist, sport, social and cultural events.
He inspires projects that have peace dialogue as their theme, as well as the cultivation of international relations, especially in Eastern Europe, and intercultural unification through culture, art, words and images.
Above all, he loved life and untouched nature. He was drawn to places on earth where man is still one with nature. He documented these places (especially Siberia) in books and photos. The impossible was possible for him.
A pianist by profession. In January 2010, he gave the world's longest piano concert, which lasted 103 hours and 8 seconds. With this, he made it into the Guinness Book of Records. He always said that all this was only possible thanks to the support of his family and friends. Thanks to them, he always came back home. He died in Gdańsk in 2019.
.... and founder of the Foundation together with Dorota Litwinska and Krystyna Jaetke. The Foundation's council members are Malgorzata Litwinska, Maciej Barlak and Szymon Ziolkowski.
A CONFERENCE and NVC (Nonviolent Communication) WORKSHOPS were held on September 7-8, 2023, in cooperation with representatives from science and art, from Poland, Germany, Austria and Lithuania. The conference was under the patronage of Ambassador Dr. Emil Brix, Director of the Diplomatic Academy in Vienna. At the end of November 2023 we are planning a gala SIGNA PRO PACIS, which will have a Viennese ball character.
In the following years, the initiative will be continued cyclically with an art festival. Art as a unifying element between multilingual ethnic groups and religions gives us the opportunity to seek dialogue, even if the chances of finding a common language are very limited. The motto of our project is THE ART OF UNDERSTANDING, i.e. the art of building bridges between people and nations.
Poland, Gdańsk 80-278, Rolna 8
