Roses of Renewal at the Berlin Wall

Radical Joy for Hard Times is honored to be part of the multi-experiential project of UNITY EARTH, World Unity Week, taking place all week.

Among our presentations today was a beautiful ceremony at the site of the Berlin Wall, led by Federico Hewson and Marcelo Kuna. Federico has done previous Global Earth Exchanges at the River Quaggy in London, at Coney Island in New York, and at a coal mining site in Poland. The ceremony was recorded live in the World Unity Week Main Room, as were other offerings we made today in the Radical Joy and Good Grief Convergence Room.

Federico and Marcelo spoke of the many people who had been hurt trying to get to the other side of that wall and all those in our own times who are killed and wounded as they encounter both walls between countries and walled-off places in their own hearts. Marcelo talked about the difficulty he had encountered as a gay person of color growing up in Germany.

Federico and Marcelo had begun their Global Earth Exchange ceremony before we met together on Zoom. They had placed roses in gaps of what remains of the original Berlin Wall, but had been asked by a guard to remove them, since people are not allowed to make embellishments to public memorials like this. They were able to make a RadJoy Bird at the foot of the wall however… and they had also manage to leave a couple of the roses in place.

To conclude the ceremony, Marcelo chanted a mantra as he slowly stripped the petals from one rose and let them to, inviting us to reflect on those who had died.