Hands Up

Whanganui, New Zealand, 2011: My nephew Mostyn surrenders- to the camera. Handprints of some 6000 people – from newborns to elderly – form the ceramic work Handspan, which now stands as a homage to peace within the area where the Rutland Stockade and Pukenamu Pa once stood.

This Peace Sculpture was dedicated to “the promotion of a culture of peace and non-violence for the children of the world” by the Governor General Dame Silvia Cartwright, on Saturday 21 September 2002.

Organised by Peace Through Unity, the two-year project absorbed a number of local volunteers. It was led by Ross Mitchell-Anyon, esteemed local potter, who designed the ceramic work and cast in clay the 6000 hands that decorate the walls of the sculpture.