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BROKEN CHAIR

18 August - Broken Chair comes to Place des Nations

This giant chair was born out of Handicap International’s desire to rally states and public opinion to put an end to the humanitarian crisis caused by antipersonnel mines.

"The idea was to attract the public's attention by creating a powerful message that cannot be rejected by Geneva authorities. To speak of such a sensitive subject, one has to go through a symbol." -  Paul Vermeulen, co-founder of Handicap International Switzerland.

Originally, Broken Chair was to be installed for a few months and taken down in December 1997 once the Ottawa Treaty prohibiting the acquisition, production, stockpiling and use of antipersonnel mines was signed. Yet thanks to its popularity, the sculpture has remained on Place des Nations.

The renovation of Place des Nations again threatened Broken Chair’s presence. "While for the architects, the artwork integrated perfectly their visual concept of the renovation of the square, pressure for its removal came from certain international spheres." - Paul Vermeulen.

On the initiative of Handicap International, a support movement was organised to bring back the artwork, which had rapidly gained international renown.

Beyond the debate about its future, Broken Chair returned to its original location thanks to a groundswell of popular demand.

"You don't get rid of symbols so easily. Its return had provoked heated debate at the heart of international organizations. But a wide support has made Daniel Berset's work an icon in the fight against mines and cluster bombs, as well as a place of expression of all injustices." - the daily newspaper Le Temps.

Handicap International extended the work’s symbolic power in support of the process to ban cluster bombs, which were subsequently banned by the Oslo Convention in December 2008.

Handicap International chose a new role for Broken Chair. As part of its “NO to the bombing of civilians” campaign, the monument now embodies the desperate cries of those maimed by military violence, with reference to the use of explosive weapons in populated areas.

As a key witness to the ravages of explosive weapons and in keeping with its foundational opposition to weapons that kill civilians, Handicap International symbolically inaugurated the Monument to the Unknown Civilian in honour of the millions of women, men and children who have unjustly died in the shadow of war.

Following the announcement made by U.S. government to resume the use and storage of anti-personnel mines, Handicap International organized an awareness campaign under Broken Chair to call on the signatory states of the Ottawa Treaty to use all their influence to get the United States to reverse this outrageous decision.

Handicap International positioned a “balloon tank” next to Broken Chair to draw attention to the final negotiations to end the bombing of civilians in populated areas.

The ensuing discussions led to real progress. States now recognise that the use of explosive weapons in populated areas has an unacceptable humanitarian impact on civilians and that there is an urgent need to better protect them from this practice.

In order to raise awareness of barbaric practices such as the bombing of civilians and to continue to unite people around its fight to protect civilians, Handicap International organised the "Broken Days" campaign, which became part of the history of Broken Chair. Throughout September 2022 in Geneva, to mark the 25th anniversary of Broken Chair, an exhibition retraced the history of the chair's struggles. The flags on the Mont Blanc bridge and the water jet were in HI colours.

Franco-Swiss artist Saype has teamed up with Handicap International to raise awareness of the fight against the bombing of civilians around the world. To mark the occasion, Saype has created a gigantic fresco in eco-responsible paint entitled "All of us!”. With a surface area of 1,000 m², the work was located on the Place des Nations in Geneva, which was specially grassed over for the occasion. It depicted a hand pretending to repair the missing part of the Broken Chair sculpture using a fourth leg.  

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The humanitarian crisis and the massive loss of life in the Gaza Strip and Israel have deeply shocked the international community. We have joined forces at the feet of Broken Chair with CARE, Intersos, Médecins Du Monde Switzerland, Médecins Sans Frontières, and Terre des hommes Lausanne to support the call for an immediate ceasefire, to prevent the humanitarian catastrophe from worsening.