At this year’s Dutch Design Week (which we also visited last week), a six-tiered pyramid appeared in the main square of Ketelhuisplein in Eindhoven, wrapped in colorful flags displaying 80 symbols of peace. Each flag of the Temple of Peace was created in collaboration between a recent design graduate and a refugee – from countries like Syria, Ukraine, Russia, Yemen, and Palestine. The project was conceived by Ingeborg Bloem and Stefany Rietkerk, founders of the non-profit Peace Seekers Foundation, to generate new symbols for peace, given the current prevalence of armed conflicts greater than at any time since the Second World War.
The structure, inspired by the multi-tiered Buddhist pagodas of Nepal, was designed by Bloem, while the flags, reminiscent of Tibetan prayer flags, were created through workshops involving refugees and students from Dutch art schools in a kind of creative “speed dating” format.
Among the participants, Ahmad Shawesh, a Palestinian born in exile, collaborated with graduate Nande Overtoom to create a flag featuring the outline of a key. This symbol represents the universal right of refugees to return to their homelands, but for Shawesh, it also holds personal meaning: «My grandfather gave me a key to our house in Palestine and told me: keep it with you, so that one day we will return, and you will feel peace».
