The Russian Academy Of Arts

On September 25th, 2011 in Tsereteli Art Gallery (19 Prechistenka street, Moscow) the Russian Academy of Arts and the Nakashima Foundation for Peace (New Hope, Pennsylvania, U.S.A) held a cultural action in honor of the 10th anniversary of the presentation of the Table for Peace by George Nakashima as a gift to Russia.

The internationally acclaimed woodworker, furniture maker and designer George Nakashima has been a holder of numerous awards and executed a great number of commissions for the Metropolitan Museum in New York, James A. Michener Art Museum in Pennsylvania , as well as for many American celebrities.

Obsessed by the desire to unite people of diverse nations and different credos George Nakashima made Tables or Alters for Peace out of a unique 300-year old walnut log. He wanted them to become symbols of man’s aspirations for a creative and beautiful peace free of political overtones, an expression of love for a fellow man. George Nakashima and his American friends decided to present this symbol of unity and peace as a gift to peoples of each continent. The first Table for Peace for the American continent was installed in the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City in 1987; in Asia the Table resides in Auroville in India (1996).

The forth Table is planned to be placed in Africa in Cape Town in the Peace Center that is being created by 1984 Nobel Prize Winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

In 2001 the Table for Peace (diameter – 3.5m, weight – almost a ton) was installed and consecrated on the European continent – in Moscow, in one of the halls of the Russian Academy of Arts. The event was a realization of Nakashima’s dream of the unification of peoples of Russia, Europe and continents of America and Asia to preserve peace on the Earth.

The jubilee ceremony on September 25, 2011 was attended by members of George Nakasima’s family: his daughter Mira Nakashima-Yarnall - President of the Nakashima Foundation for Peace and her son Kevin John Yarnall; Irene Goldman – Vice-President of the above Foundation (they continued the implementation of George Nakashima’s idea after his death in 1990); President of the Russian Academy of Arts Zurab Tsereteli, Vice-President of the Academy Tair Salakhov, representatives of the Russian Academy of Arts; human rights advocate Lyudmilla Alexeeva, artists Irene Nakhova and John Tormy, students of Tsaritsyno art school and many other guests.

During the ceremony the Table for Peace was covered with rose petals, the candles were burning and the air was full of aromas creating an atmosphere of spiritual unity. The program included a telephone communication between the attendees in Moscow and representatives of the Nakashima Foundation in New York and Indian city of Auroville. In memory of George Nakashima and his noble initiative were read out messages from the U.S. Ambassador to Russia John Beyrle and the African Archbishop Desmond Tutu. The attendees of the ceremony joined hands thus showing their appreciation of George Nakashma’s idea to help inspire peace. Zurab Tsereteli and Tair Salakhov addressed the attendees with words of hope that the world would be a better and more safe place to live in. Mira Nakashima, the President of the Nakashima Foundation for Peace thanked all those who had organized the jubilee event.

Photoreport

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