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Lifting Peace Off the Ground: Community Art at MSVU

Left image: A poster featuring peace activist Muriel Duckworth with text describing her 1983 visit to Hiroshima and Nagasaki and a survivor’s account of birds and butterflies falling from the sky with their wings on fire. A small black-and-white photo of Muriel Duckworth appears below the text, alongside simple butterfly illustrations and a red “no nuclear weapons” symbol over an explosion graphic. Right image: An older woman sits beside a bed covered with a large textile human shadow figure. The shadow is being decorated with many colourful handmade butterflies in felt, fabric, and embroidery as part of a community art project.

You’re invited to celebrate community creativity at the Annual Mount Community Show at MSVU.

Opening Reception

  • Date: Thursday, December 11

  • Time: 12:00 noon

  • Location: MSVU Main Gallery

The reception is a casual, drop-in event and refreshments will be served.

Members of NSVOW and the Raging Grannies will be there, sharing our Nocturne installation commemorating the 80th anniversary of Hiroshima and Nagasaki:

“Lifting Peace Off the Ground”

We’re inviting the whole community to help grow this piece by contributing handmade textile butterflies to cover a life-sized human shadow figure in the gallery.

Please also visit our website at nsvow.org to learn more about our work for peace and justice.

About Lifting Peace Off the Ground

Lifting Peace Off the Ground was inspired by peace activist Muriel Duckworth.

We are all living under the ongoing threat of nuclear mass destruction. Together, we can urge our governments to pick up the frayed thread of nuclear diplomacy, rather than tighten the noose of new weapons projects.

In this piece:

  • A human shadow on the floor represents the terrifying horror and suffering experienced in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, where human lives were incinerated.

  • Butterflies represent transformation and beauty — both are needed to rewrite the story toward peaceful solutions to conflict around the world.

We hope to cover the entire shadow in butterflies made by community members and friends near and far.

How to participate

We welcome butterflies that are:

  • Made from any textile: scraps of cloth, embroidery, felting, quilting, patchwork, fabric paint, etc.

  • Maximum size: 8 cm x 8 cm (we’re flexible, but small is helpful!)

If you’d like to contribute a butterfly or a batch of butterflies, please email:
📧 winkler.kathrin2@gmail.com for more information.

Many thanks to:

  • Fatima and the Muslim Women’s Study group for the beautiful crocheted white poppies

  • Firhana in Newfoundland for the gorgeous felted butterfly pockets

  • Thousand Harbours Zen – 千湊寺 for the connection to Nora, who created the human shadow

  • And to all who have already stitched, folded, felted, and dreamed peace with us.