Highlights of the Washington DC Peace Mural Exhibition

We are pleased to share these highlights and memories of the recent Washington DC exhibition held in Georgetown from Nov. 29, 2008 through Jan. 30, 2009. If you have videos or photos to share, please forward them to info@peacemural.org.
Please offer us your feedback on the DC Exhibition by taking a few moments to submit this
Survey Evaluation; Thank You!
All Events At the Wash DC Exhibition 11/29/08-1/30/09 (44)

View from the 2nd Floor Atrium: Peacebuilder's Reception, National Peace Foundation, January 10th.
Washington Post Story (12/18/08)
War & Peace, an Epic Mural/Foreign Policy in Focus (12/5/08)
Grand Opening Weekend
Over 300 people participated in the Grand Opening Weekend (Dec. 6-7, 2008). Festivities began on Saturday with a special reception honoring
Poets Against the War and its local affiliate,
DC Poets Against the War. The
reception was highlighted with the unveiling of over 100 poems that were submitted by poets across the country and published to the Peace Mural.

Festivities continued on Sunday as guests gathered with the
DC Peace Marching Band in neighboring
Francis Scott Key Park. From the park, peacemakers followed the marching band as they worked their way around the block surrounding the gallery, then marching up M Street and into the gallery entrance. Once inside, a program featuring Huong and other speakers welcomed guests and invited them to explore the exhibition, culminating with Huong and representatives of
Code Pink facilitating the austere unveiling of the
No Torture panels located on the second floor of the exhibition. Throughout the weekend there were a variety of special events including repeat performances of the
Mountain of Peace,
poetry readings, a
Blessing Tree ceremony, and a presentation on the
Global Oneness Pledge, and a special performance by the
World Children's Choir.
The Wall of Injustice
The
Peace Mural is an work in progress. Several new elements were added during the Washington DC Exhibition, including the
The Wall of Injustice that divides Israel and Palestine. The collaborative project involved several artists, was overseen by Huong, and was inspired by guest artist
Cherie Redlinger. The
Wall is a fitting reminder of the current crisis in Gaza and the anguish of war in our midst this very moment. For more background, see:
The Making of the Wall of Injustice.
The Mountain of Peace
Among the featured performances at the
DC Peace Mural were vignettes from
Frances Key’s musical theatre production,
The Mountain of Peace. Topics of human rights, war, and peace were presented through songs, videos, and monologues. The performances featured students from
Duke Ellington School for the Arts and the
International Peace Performers. The production included
Flag of Living Stars, a demilitarized version of the U.S. national anthem (
Star Spangled Banner) by Francis Scott Key, namesake and ancestor. Frances' work complements Huong's
Flag at War series, a component of the
Peace Mural that was exhibited in DC. Both artists challenge us to reinterpret the meaning the American Flag in the context of a vision for a world grounded in peace and social justice.

(L) Entrance to the DC Peace Mural seen through the window frontage on M Street in Georgetown.

(R) Theatre of the Oppressed workshop with Hector Aristizibal, actor and human rights activist from Columbia.
About the Peace Mural
Nearly 15 years in the making, Huong’s
Peace Mural is the culmination of searing memories that bring history to life and depict the universal pain of war and hope for peace. The complete mural includes nearly 2000 paintings. When fully presented, the mural stands 8' feet tall and 600 feet long. Exhibition of the mural often includes a number of free-standing pieces from Huong's private war/peace collection. The combined presentation captures highly evocative images and concepts depicting multiple themes including:
Voices of Children;
Voices of the Troops;
Mothers in War;
The Peace of all Nations;
The Flag at War;
The Displaced and the Disabled;
The Cry of Refugees; and
The Tortured.

Far more than simply an exhibition of art, the
Peace Mural is highly interactive and participatory as it evokes civic engagement and calls forth from viewers a response through reflection, dialogue and action. Viewers are invited to “sign on” for peace by adding their own thoughts and comments to panels scattered throughout the mural. Exhibitions are typically accompanied with a series of community dialogues, educational events, artistic presentations and public actions.

Most of these sidebar events take place on site at the exhibition and are sponsored by a variety of local partner organizations. The mural is both deeply spiritual and politically reflective as it calls forth citizen and community response. But most of all, it resonates a challenge and hope for peace in ways that only art can do. It inspires, it disturbs, and evokes personal responsibility. The
Peace Mural is an expression of “people’s art” as it informs and shapes civil society and stimulates vibrant participatory democracy.
About the Artist HUONG: A young journalist at the time of the Vietnam War, Huong climbed aboard one of the last refugee boats before the fall of Saigon, wearing only one shoe and carrying her infant son in arms. She first settled in Alaska where she swapped her pen for a brush in an effort to”paint out” the passions within her. Eventually she launched an art career that has captured the attention of art audiences and critics internationally. Not unlike Picasso’s own war protest painting
Guernica, Huong’s paintings collectively form a body of work addressing the global issues of war and peace. Through hundreds of painted canvases, the Peace Mural is a symbol of Huong’s determination to purge our culture from the ways of war and to advance an emerging
culture of peace. Some of Huong's Other Works:
The War Pieces
The Peace Pieces
Let's Think Peace
The Flag at War
About the Peace Mural Foundation: Huong has recently given custody of her
Peace Mural to
The Peace Mural Foundation, Inc, a non-profit organization established to carryout a mission "to promote civic education and action for peace and justice through the arts." The Washington DC Exhibition was the Foundation's inaugural effort.