Peace expo for Marlborough
Claire Connell - Marlborough | Tuesday, 24 June 2008A worldwide exhibition encouraging peace is coming to Marlborough for the first time in July.
Building A Culture Of Peace For The Children Of The World exhibition will run from July 16 to August 8 in the Marlborough Civic Theatre.
The exhibition was brought in from overseas by Buddhist group Soka Gakkai International New Zealand.
Soka Gakkai Blenheim spokeswoman and exhibition organiser Caroline Harvey said the aim was to let young people know there was something they could do about creating peace.
Mrs Harvey said it was fantastic to have the exhibition in Blenheim and she was delighted with the community support for it.
"Marlborough is quite a small community really, everyone knows everyone, but we have a lot of new immigrants and visitors to the region.
"A lot of Marlborough kids don't go overseas until they are much older.
"We thought it would be a really great opportunity to bring the exhibition to Marlborough, and I hope it gives children a much bigger picture of what is happening (around the world).
"We see a lot of images of devastation and children are always caught in it they are powerless. I think that when we see a child who has been involved in war it really touches our heart."
The 28 panels were designed with the United Nations eight paths to peace themes.
Each panel is made from five photographs as well as text and quotes from young people and international peace leaders such as Mother Teresa and Gandhi.
The exhibition is on loan to New Zealand indefinitely, and is available to any organisation for display. Marlborough schools have been given a teaching pack, and are encouraged to come along.
The exhibition also features drawings from the Vision for Peace programme. If people wanted to create a poster about what peace meant to them, they could pick up a form from the Blenheim or Picton library or from schools.