The event
After being postponed many times due to the pandemic, the artist Saype and his team, accompanied by representatives at the highest level of the UN and Switzerland, were able to inaugurate a gigantic fresco (11’000 square meters) painted on the North Lawn of the UN Headquarters in New York. The fresco, a gift from Switzerland to the UN for the organization's 75th anniversary, was created with an eco-friendly paint made of water, chalk and charcoal. In the end, it was actually unveiled just a couple of days after the launch of the Common Agenda by Secretary-General António Guterres. What better way to illustrate the challenges and ambitions of the UN than by representing two children working together to build the world of tomorrow?
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Ignazio Cassis, Head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs; António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations; Abdulla Shahid, President of the General Assembly; Pascale Baeriswyl, Permanent Representative of Switzerland to the United Nations; Geraldine Byrne Nason, President of the Security Council; Collen Vixen Kelapile, President of the Economic and Social Council; Jayathma Wickramanayake, Envoy of the Secretary-General for Youth; Guillaume Legros a.k.a. "Saype".
Pascale Baeriswyl, Permanent Representative of Switzerland to the United Nations, with Adrian Hauri, Deputy Permanent Representative of Switzerland to the United Nations and guests.
Geraldine Byrne Nason, Irish Ambassador and President of the Security Council, speaks with Jayathma Wickramanayake, UN Special Envoy for Youth.
Federal Councillor Ignazio Cassis meets with Ambassador Collen Vixen Kelapile, President of ECOSOC and Ambassador Abdulla Shahid, President of the General Assembly.
Saype shows his work to Ignazio Cassis, Head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, Geraldine Byrne Nason, Irish Ambassador and President of the Security Council, and Jayathma Wickramanayake, UN Special Envoy for Youth.
Saype shows his work to Ignazio Cassis, Head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, and to Ambassador Abdulla Shahid of the Maldives, President of the General Assembly.
Ignazio Cassis, Head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, speaks with Geraldine Byrne Nason, Irish Ambassador and President of the Security Council, Pascale Baeriswyl, Permanent Representative of Switzerland to the United Nations, and Jayathma Wickramanayake, UN Special Envoy for Youth.
Pascale Baeriswyl, Permanent Representative of Switzerland to the United Nations, speaks with Jayathma Wickramanayake, UN Special Envoy for Youth, Ignazio Cassis, Head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs and Geraldine Byrne Nason, Irish Ambassador and President of the Security Council.
Adrian Hauri with Melissa Fleming, Under-Secretary-General for Global Communications and Maher Nasser, Director of the Department of Public Information.
Ambassador Pascale Baeriswyl welcomes the guests.
"In this age of consumer waste, it should make us think about what we are leaving to future generations. We are all temporary guests on our planet." -António Guterres
"World in Progress II" is ephemeral. In just a few weeks, it will disappear without a trace. Ist value lies in the impressions it creates in our imagination and the memories it leaves behind". -António Guterres
Ambassador Abdulla Shahid of Maldives, President of the General Assembly.
The fresco, painted on the lawn and photographed for the ceremony, is a gift from Switzerland to the United Nations. It was unveiled in parallel to the launch of the UN Common Agenda.
Mr. Ignazio Cassis, Federal Councillor, Head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs of Switzerland.
Ambassador Nicolas Bideau, Head of Presence Switzerland, with Saype.
The guests admire the picture of the fresco that has just been unveiled.
"World in Progress II" is the second chapter of a work that was created at the UN in Geneva in June 2020, where two children were imagining the world of tomorrow. The fresco in New York shows them building it.
"We live very different lives but we are all live on the same planet. And I really think that art can be part of the solution." -Saype.
"Some people use words to express themselves. In my case, I use chalk and charcoal." -Saype
The guests attending the inauguration on the UN Plaza.
Saype walks down to the North Lawn to show his work to the guests.
Ignazio Cassis with António Guterres take a look at the work on the ground.
Group picture following the inauguration of the artwork.
The traces of the work on the ground.
The inauguration comes to a close at the United Nations Headquarters.
Saype signs the picture of the artwork given by Switzerland to the United Nations.