The Broken Chair Sculpture for Victims of Landmines was designed by Swiss artist Daniel Berset and can be seen in the Place des Nations, Geneva, since 1997. One of the giant chair's legs symbolises mutilation by explosion.
“It was impossible to expose the image of a person torn apart by the explosion of a landmine… the hardness of such an image causes a rejection of the message by the public. So we evaded the shock and horror, and looked for a symbolic force instead”.
Paul Vermeulen, co-founder of Handicap International Switzerland
“The chair symbol seemed particularly appropriate to me; indeed, a chair follows the body curves, evokes a presence even when it is empty, its legs support life… by mutilating it, it is life itself that one hurts. The idea was to collaborate with an artist to draw the public’s attention to Handicap international's battles, by creating a powerful quality message that could not be rejected by Genevan authorities. I knew from watching those pictures that seeing the hardness of mutilation by explosives causes the rejection of the message; to mention such a crude subject, we needed a symbol”.
Paul Vermeulen, co-founder of Handicap International Switzerland
(via/more Handicap International)
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photograph via Peace
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