By USI Università della Svizzera italiana
Exhibition and texts curated by Anna Picco-Schwendener (UNESCO Chair, Università della Svizzera italiana) & Grazia Branco (Karl Schmid Foundation)
Karl Schmid was a convinced pacifist and in many of his works offers cues for reflections against all kinds of war.
In the following work entitled "Weapons for Peace" (orig. title Waffen für den Frieden), Karl Schmid uses harmony as an antidote to war.
With great technical skill and sensitivity he brings out harmonious, pure and delicate forms from marble.
Weapons for peace (orig. Waffen für den Frieden) (1963) by Karl SchmidUSI Università della Svizzera italiana
Auschwitz
Instead, this work is meant to be a reminder not to forget and to ensure that the cruelties of the Holocaust are never repeated.
Karl Schmid created this oxidized iron sculpture in the 1960s and then worked on it for the rest of his life. In a kind of "ritual of remembrance," he added a spike each year to commemorate the tragedy of the holocaust.
According to his daughter Eva Schmid, Karl painted against Auschwitz and the destruction of humanity's values. In this way he wanted to make, in his own small way, a contribution so that humanity could one day find its way to peace.
Trumpets of Jericho
Karl Schmid also made several iron sculptures entitled "Trumpets of Jericho."
1) According to the Bible, the walls of Jericho fell after Joshua blew the trumpets, allowing the Israelites to invade and destroy the city.
2) During World War II, the sirens attached to the Luftwaffe's Stuka planes, which have been used to scare the enemy during bombing raids, were called "Jericho trumpets."
In both cases the Trumpets of Jericho represent war, terror and destruction.
With this series of works Karl Schmid wants to convey a warning to humanity not to fall back into the same mistakes again.
This story is the result of a collaboration between the UNESCO Chair of the Università della Svizzera italiana, and the Karl Schmid Foundation. The photos have been provided by the Karl Schmid Foundation and are available under the Creative Commons License CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).
Texts have been written by Anna Picco-Schwendener (UNESCO Chair of UNESCO Chair of the Università della Svizzera italiana) & Grazia Branco (Karl Schmid Foundation).
