About

The ‘Smile for Peace Project’ (SCP)
has a multi-year plan to promote experiential art events globally, presenting our deep belief in democracy and peaceful efforts against religious fanaticism, dictatorship and fascism, and finally offering the smiles of people from all walks of life as the most powerful and peaceful weapon
against a culture of fear and terrorism.

The gallery opening is part of our soft-launch, which occurs in year 1 across Switzerland. We kicked off this project in March, in ZURICH at the group show, COLOR FEVER, where we introduced 2D SCP works. “Here I focused on women’s smiles with the idea of a time when God was a woman.” Says Susan. “I focused on mixing up the smiles of different religions and even the non-religious in these works. One work had international women’s smiles, another had American golden girls/senior citizen smiles. Then in support of the Iranian women’s Wednesday White Scarf movement against mandatory cover for women in Iran, I created a forbidden women’s smile work where I showed smiles of Iranian women in public, ‘For Iranian women, smiling in public is criticized by Islamic fundamentalists.’ According to Mehdi Jahandar. In parallel in NEW YORK, I was with the ARTBOX Gallery, more 2D works with mixed men’s and women’s smiles, and finally ONLINE at the Swiss Photo Award website, with atheists and skeptics smiles, because atheists, and skeptics need to be included in this project too,
to be truly all encompassing.”

“In May and June we were part of another group show named; I LOVE SWITZERLAND. There I had some interactive works, on one that looked like the Swiss flag people wrote the word ‘peace’ in whatever language they wanted, showing the diversity of Switzerland, and in another work one could simulate being on a hike at the Matterhorn and you could blow the smiles around in an artwork with the famous mountain andedelweiss. Lastly was an installation, a smile cloud that grew over time during the show and finished with the birth of the ‘Dove Wing’. In it are mixed smiles of people in Switzerland,
from all religious backgrounds.

After the opening of gallery mmm, August 30, 2018 in Adliswil, close to the city of Zurich, the next Smile Cloud exhibit takes place at the Maison
Internationale des Associations, in Geneva.

In year two we launch the Smile Labyrinth, inviting participants to experience the reality of our interdependence. A more intimate engagement with both two- and three-dimensional Smile Clouds displays the clouds in a labyrinthine installation intended for places of worship, art fairs, and public spaces. The Smile Labyrinth provides the space for contemplation of ourselves as not only members of different groups or tribes (diversity),
but more connected with the experience
of ourselves as one humanity (unity).

In year three we invite artists whose work is aligned with the message to partner with us
and join us on tour.

Eventually, the collection of smiles will lead to a final Smile Cloud work, which will travel the world,
inspiring PEACE and demonstrating that
we are not so different after all…

We can truly live with ‘Unity in Diversity’