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I had a calligraphy performance at the UN in a collaborative event with Sahoko Sato Timpone ( Mezzo-Soprano ) on Friday, June 16, at 1-3pm. This was the third event of “Peace is … ” and I selected the words “Peace is Unity “.

Part I: Waves (Blue Ink) Kana style

– Classical Japanese poem evoking images of ocean waves

Part II: Flow (Black Ink) Contemporary style

– Various kanji representing different aspects of the sea:  波 ( Wave ), 流動 ( Flow ), 風 ( Wind ),光 ( Light ), 影 ( Shadow ), 希望( Hope ),源( Origin )

Part III: Light and Wind (Gold Ink) Manyogana

– from the classical Japanese anthology of One Hundred Poems, which expresses love with metaphors relating to nature.

After the performance, guests wrote their messages of peace in their respective mother languages on Japanese “washi” paper and on stones/seashells which will be thrown onto the “paper ocean”.

I felt peace when I taught my first calligraphy class. There my student brought his grandmother, as the lesson was for her birthday. Since English was not a native language for either of us, our way of communicating was through calligraphy. She wanted to write ” love” for her grandson as a sign of appreciation. So I took her hand and guided her through the movements.

This is how I teach with unity and why it means peace to me.

I will be performing at the United Nations on Friday, June 16, 2017, 2-3pm at the UN Visitor’s Lobby. This will be a collaborative performance with Sahoko Sato Timpone (Mezzo-soprano). The overarching theme of this series of events is Peace. This month’s theme, within that, is “Sea and Wind”.  I hope that you will be able to enjoy the opportunity to participate in this event by writing what peace means to you on a shell or a pebble, and placing it on the washi paper that I will be writing on for the performance.