COVENTRY will celebrate its culture of peace and reconciliation with a major campaign which will see a 14-foot poem illuminate the city.
The City of Culture Trust is today launching its first flagship project since Coventry won the title UK City of Culture 2021.
The campaign – #HumansOfCov – will throw a spotlight onto the human rights of people across the city and beyond.
It will both highlight the everyday heroes in Coventry’s communities and the grassroots activism of the city.
The project launches as world nations commemorate the 70th anniversary of the UN Declaration of Human Rights, which was signed on December 10, 1948, and will be honoured around the world.
To launch the campaign, the 14-foot mobile peace poem will tour to different parts of the city.
The trust hopes it will open a discussion with city communities on what they perceive as human rights and where they fit into modern society.
The poem, Paper Peace by Robert Montgomery, will be accompanied by activities to develop conversations and reads:
“A hundred years and the dream never ends. All our tomorrows are fragile. The peace builders are heroes of kindness. Peace is a dream of a shared human soul that we build every day with forgiveness and kindness and hope.”
The trust has also become a commissioning partner with a group of theatres in London on a project called Fly The Flag, where a new flag has been created to celebrate Human Rights.
Creative director for the trust Chenine Bhathena said: “The Declaration of Human Rights was momentous for citizens and nations around the world. It gave us freedoms never imagined and opportunities which previously were only for the few.
“Throughout its history, Coventry has always pioneered activism, fighting for workers’ rights, promoting equality, tackling racism, making the case for arts in education, welcoming new communities, finding solutions for poverty and health inequalities.
“Coventry has always been a city of migrants and #HumansOfCov will help us talk to our citizens to understand who they are, what they hold most dear and the challenges and barriers that they face in their everyday lives.”
In each destination, it will gather stories, pledges and poems of peace for a National Peace Archive, the trust says.
