In 1997 the
Fondazione Mediterraneo organized in Naples the 2nd
Euromed Civil Forum with the participation of 2248 delegates
from 36 Countries of the Greater Mediterranean.
(www.euromedi.org/activities/1997/12-14 December Naples)
Among the
recommendations and the proposed projects there was the idea of “identify a symbol for peace among
peoples through an artwork of a great artist”.
A scientific
council created "ad hoc" by the Fondazione Mediterraneo, after
10 years of work, individuated in the “Totem of Peace” by the Italian
sculptor Mario Molinari the most suitable symbol to represent
Peace in the Greater Mediterranean and the World.
The red sail
represents not only the tragedies and the dead that
blood-stained the Mediterranean, the Middle East region and the
rest of the World but, essentially, the rebirth of trust and the
reconstruction of dialogue.
The two
semi-circles coloured in yellow and orange represent the dawn
and the sunset of the sun on the blue sea: a sing of joy, colour
and hope for a future made of peace and shared development.
The Totem of
Peace is now in progress in many cities. Among others: Barcelona,
Marseille, Naples (Vesuvius), Amman, Marrakech, Fez, Rabat, Jerusalem, Gaza, Ispica, Rutino, Lecce,
Cairo, Tunis, Algiers, Muscat.
The aim of Fondazione Mediterraneo,
together with the Maison de la Méditerranée, the Maison des Alliances and the Maison
de la Paix, is to diffuse this symbol to constitute the network
of the “Cities of the World for Peace”.
