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or...Hope for the World
An Exhibition of Photographs and Paintings by Rick Cross at Keswick Art Gallery and Museum during September entitled "Hope for the World"
The exhibition will include images of these flags made from discarded plastic bags collected from local rivers and open spaces through the work of the Riversmeet Community Network. The Flags are decorated with the hopes for the world of local people, as part of a Call for Globally Responsible Leadership, at the close of the Olympic Games. In concept they echo the long tradition dating back to ancient Buddhist philosophy and spiritual traditions in Tibet, China, Persia and India that use coloured flags to symbolise Earth, Fire, Air and Water, the building blocks of nature. These flags are traditionally adorned with symbols and prayers and used to balance the energies of earthly and spiritual realms. By placing the flags high in the mountains the natural energy of the wind animates our thoughts and prayers to flow around the world, bringing harmony, happiness and good fortune among all living things. The origin of the plastic, reaches back into the primordial mysteries of the earth’s biosphere, when the oil deposits, that have fuelled the growth of our global economy, were laid down. The processes involved in producing these images take the work forward in time to the age of digital photography and contemporary printing technology.