Between Tuesday 27th June and Saturday 1st July 2023, Swansea Museum hosted an exhibition entitled, ‘Peace Mala: Creating a more compassionate world’, created and curated by Pam Evans MBE (founder and CEO of the Peace Mala charity and educational project) and Olivia Ciaccia (a final year PhD candidate in History at the University of Bristol).
The exhibition celebrated 20 years of the Peace Mala project, which was founded by Pam Evans in 2001 following the aftermath of 9/11, seeking to challenge the negative impact that this disastrous event had her students (in terms of discrimination and prejudice (www.peacemala.org.uk). Based in Morriston (Swansea UK), with a nation-wide and international reach, the Peace Mala charity promotes peace education and interfaith dialogue between young people and community leaders.
The exhibition opened during LGBT+ Pride Month, and was attended by Peace Mala representatives, local dignitaries, local school pupils and staff, and staff from the museum. Following a welcoming speech by Pam Evans, pupils from St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School (Clydach), Penllergaer Primary School, and Ysgol Tan-Y-Lan, accompanied by renowned musician, Steve Balsamo, wowed attendees with their rendition of ‘One Light’ (the Peace Mala anthem written and composed by the talented Lee Michael Walton), ‘Dros Yr Enfys’ (‘Over the Rainbow’ in Welsh), and ‘Hallelujah’. The moving voices of these young people and Steve Balsamo can also be heard in a new CD, Peace Mala: Music for a more compassionate world, launched in conjunction with the exhibition. After this, dignitaries gathered to hear a speech by Deputy Lord Lieutenant Jill Johnson, who cut the rainbow ribbon to officially open the exhibition.
The exhibition centred upon Peace Mala’s positive impact on local schools, demonstrated through exhibits created by eight Peace Mala accredited schools from Swansea and Neath Port Talbot. Each exhibit explored one of the seven educational areas identified in the accreditation process, highlighting the themes of global citizenship, human rights, global interdependence, active compassion, diversity, environmental responsibility, and peace education; an eighth school brought these themes together with ‘the Golden Rule’.
Hafod Primary School contributed a decorated globe (originally created for The World Reimagined) depicting Swansea’s industrial past juxtaposed with natural imagery, envisioning a Swansea where wildlife thrives. The school’s position as a Rights Respecting School is represented, as is its culturally diverse community and accredited Peace Mala status, which was shown through a Peace Dove flying across the globe. A large model of this dove, representing global citizenship, was also prominently displayed.
Christchurch Church in Wales Primary School produced a decorated display board, comprising text and images with anti-bullying messages, as well as a QR code inviting visitors to listen to pupils perform anti-bullying raps! Affirmations of human rights were tied to light-up trees, set behind potted plants, decorated with Peace Mala’s rainbow colours. Additionally, pupils also created a vibrant art-piece, entitled, ‘A New Commandment’. Woven into this ‘loom full of peace’ were many hidden items, waiting to be discovered by observant visitors. A beautiful poem accompanied the artwork, explaining:
‘We learnt about Sanctuary and all Human Rights,
Those seeking asylum, their battles and fights.
Brave refugees, and the families they left,
Became symbols of art, in our warp and our weft.
The symbols are subtle, not seen at first glance,
But tell of a story, of Hope, a new chance!’
Pupils of Ysgol Tan-Y-Lan created a large, decorated display board with 3D elements, images, and bilingual text. This colourful display highlighted the work that the school has done with charities, such as Macmillan and Save the Children, as well as their participation in food collections and calls for an end to international conflicts.
The pupils of Central Primary School decorated a tall, three-sided display board, covered with images and multi-textured artwork representing the cultural and racial diversity of the school. Taking inspiration from Shane DeRolf’s, The Crayon Box that Talked, pupils creatively communicated the message, ‘We are like a box of crayons, each one is unique. But when we get together, the picture is complete.’
Year five pupils at St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School (Clydach) worked with local artist, Keith Bayliss, to produce a collection of large art prints centred on the theme of religious diversity. They provided a QR code that allowed visitors to view/listen to online recordings of pupils explaining the meaning behind their artworks, centred upon the theme of religious diversity and interfaith peace.
Catwg’s exhibit related to caring for the environment, animals, and healthy eating. Artwork of leaves, plants, and animals were displayed alongside text detailing what pupils had learnt about wildlife. They also shared poems and diary entries about places in nature that were special to them.
Penllergaer’s display exhibited images of the school’s beautiful peace garden and their involvement with Peace Mala interfaith events, attended by the school’s choir. These were accompanied by messages from pupils, written on Peace Doves, explaining what peace means to them, for example, ‘To me, peace means sharing’, ‘To me, peace means I can help people’.
Pupils from Hendrefoilan Primary School’s Art Club worked together to create a large, 3D model of a Peace Mala bracelet, which rested in the middle of the exhibition. As detailed on accompanying images and text, each coloured bead represented a different faith and its peace message. The display explains how each faith is united by their shared belief in the Golden Rule: ‘Treat others as you wish them to treat you’.
In addition to the creative and emotionally moving displays produced by the schools above, other displays were assembled by Pam Evans, detailing some of Peace Mala’s achievements in the projects 20 years. Pam Evans collaborated with local faith representatives, Swansea Museum, and Olivia Ciaccia to collect artefacts relating to the Abrahamic faiths and faiths from around the world, which were displayed in two cases in the room. Bilingual booklets in paper and digital form accompanied these displays (Created by Olivia Ciaccia and translated by Carys Thomas, a postgraduate student at Swansea University); providing contextual information about some of the prominent artefacts therein. Swansea Museum provided two artefacts of particular note, namely, a 200-year-old Sefer Torah and an exquisite Burmese Buddharupa.
Before leaving the exhibition, visitors were invited to write their own messages for peace and affix the to the Peace Tree. The resulting messages appeared in multiple languages, written by people of various ethnicities, religions, genders, and ages.
Though the exhibition was only open to visitors for five days, the excellent work of Peace Mala and its accredited schools continues, with new cohorts of pupils learning about the seven areas described above, new schools achieving accredited status and higher levels of accreditation, and upcoming interfaith events planned. Pam Evans, the Peace Mala team, and Olivia Ciaccia, express their gratitude to the Beads on one String Foundation for their financial support for the exhibition, to the SME Internship at the University of Bristol for providing Olivia Ciaccia the opportunity to collaborate with Peace Mala on this project, to Swansea Museum for hosting and supporting the exhibition, to the volunteers who assisted in setting up the space, and to the inspiring pupils of the schools who made this exhibition one to proudly remember.
To view a recorded walkthrough of the exhibition: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujCW_IrOUMg
Abrahamic Faiths Booklet: https://tinyurl.com/abrahamicfaiths
Abrahamic Faiths Booklet (Cymraeg): https://tinyurl.com/YCrefyddauAbrahamig
Faiths Around the World Booklet: https://tinyurl.com/faithsaroundtheworld
Faiths Around the World Booklet (Cymraeg): https://tinyurl.com/CrefyddauarDrawsyByd
Peace Mala’s Website: http://www.peacemala.org.uk/
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Olivia Ciaccia is a PhD candidate at the University of Bristol researching the revival of ancient Mediterranean and Egyptian goddesses in 21st century Goddess Spirituality. Prior to her doctoral research, Olivia earned her BA and MA degrees in Egyptology at Swansea University. She is now employed as the HER Officer for Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust.