Broken Chair

Broken Chair is a monumental sculpture in wood by the Swiss artist Daniel Berset, constructed by the carpenter Louis Genève. It is constructed of 5.5 tons of wood and is 12 metres (39 feet) high.

It depicts a giant chair with a broken leg and stands across the street from the Palace of Nations, in Geneva. It symbolises opposition to land mines and cluster bombs, and acts as a reminder to politicians and others visiting Geneva.

History

Broken Chair is a project of Paul Vermeulen, co-founder and director of Handicap International Suisse. The sculpture was erected by Handicap International in front of the main entrance to the Palais des Nations in Geneva in August 1997, where it was intended to remain for three months, until the signature of the Ottawa Treaty in December 1997 in Ottawa. Following ratification by 40 countries, the Treaty became effective as an instrument of international law on 1st march 1999.

The failure of significant countries to sign the Treaty and the strong public support for the sculpture caused it to be left in place until 2005, when it was removed to allow extensive remodelling of the Place des Nations. After completion of the work, it was reinstalled in the same place in front of the United Nations Office at Geneva on 26 February 2007.

The reinstallation of Broken Chair in February 2007 was officially dedicated by Handicap International to support the signature of an international treaty on a ban on Cluster Bombs (Convention on Cluster Munitions), which was signed in Oslo in December 2008.

The work was the property of the sculptor until 2004, when he transferred ownership to Handicap International.

See also

Other giant chair sculptures are Chair in the US, and the temporary The Writer on Hampstead Heath in London.

Notes and references

Шаблон:Reflist

The article was translated from the French Wikipedia entry (as of June 2008), with some additional input from [1].

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Fawad Syed
24 August 2015
Get off the tram and don't look at the chair until you reach close to the chair. Sit appreciate the water fountains and have a peak inside through the UN flag gate.
Pelin Dura
7 January 2016
created for mine injures! it is in front of the United Nation
Said
11 April 2016
Chairs and WiFi, everything you need when you are abroad and legs are tired.
Ekaterina Belous Freire
Kids are having a lot of fun here!
Colin Chesnutt
13 August 2015
En verano, tras un vistazo rápido al monumento, de bien seguro que te entrarán ganas de meterte en la fuente. Si buscas la entrada de la ONU, sigue hacia arriba a la izquierda.
Marissa Bella
14 October 2017
Стул был поставлен в знак проста насилия!
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Place des Nations, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland Get directions
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Thu 9:00 AM–7:00 PM
Fri 8:00 AM–7:00 PM
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