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BROKEN CHAIR
ABOUT
Broken Chair : symbol for armed violence victims
Broken Chair symbolizes the despair and dignity of armed violence victims. Its aim is to remind the obligation of states to protect and help victims. The presence of Broken Chair in Place des Nations allows everyone to reflect on their own responsibility and encourages action!
Created : 1997
Size and weight : 12 meters and 5.5 tons
Material : Douglas Wood
Owner : Handicap International, Humanity & Inclusion
Project : Paul Vermeulen, co-founder of Handicap International Switzerland
Artist : Daniel Berset
Carpenter : Louis Genève
Engineer : Thomas Büchi
History

18 August - Broken Chair settles in Place des Nations
The giant chair mutilated by an explosion has been created out of Handicap International’s desire to mobilize states...
18 August - Broken Chair settles in Place des Nations
The giant chair mutilated by an explosion has been created out of Handicap International’s desire to mobilize states and the public opinion to ban anti-personnel 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.
Few months after its installation, Broken Chair should have been dismantled in December 1997 during the signing of The Treaty of Ottawa, which prohibits the acquisition, production, storage and use of the anti-personnel mines.
An uncertain future
The renovation of Place des Nations threatens of Broken Chair. "While for the architects, the artwork integrated perfectly their visual concept...
The renovation of Place des Nations threatens of Broken Chair. "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.
At the initiative of Handicap International, a support movement has come together in order to return Broken Chair in Place des Nations which had acquired a worldwide notoriety.

February 26 – The return of Broken Chair
Beyond the debate about its future, Broken Chair returns to its original location due to its popularity.
February 26 – The return of Broken Chair
Beyond the debate about its future, Broken Chair returns to its original location due to its popularity.
"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.

Broken Chair for Cluster Bomb Victims
Handicap International decides to extend the symbolic force of the artwork to support the process of banning cluster bombs...
Broken Chair for Cluster Bomb Victims
Handicap International decides to extend the symbolic force of the artwork to support the process of banning cluster bombs, which have been later banned by the Oslo Treaty in December 2008.
A New Fight for Broken Chair : Explosive Weapons
Handicap International decides to expand Broken Chair’s mission. As part of its campaign « Stop bombing civilians! »...
A New Fight for Broken Chair : Explosive Weapons
Handicap International decides to expand Broken Chair’s mission. As part of its campaign « Stop bombing civilians! », the monument advocates for the desperate cry of massacred populations by military violence, particularly when explosive weapons are involved in populated areas.

November 14 – inauguration of the monument to the Unknown Civilian
As the first witness to the damages caused by explosive weapons and true to its founding revolt against weapons that kill civilians, Handicap International paid tribute...
As the first witness to the damages caused by explosive weapons and true to its founding revolt against weapons that kill civilians, Handicap International paid tribute to the millions of men, women and children who have died in the shadows of war, by symbolically inaugurating the monument to the Unknown Civilian.

January 31 – A sad return to the news
Following the announcement made by U.S. government to resume the use and storage of anti-personnel mines, Handicap International...
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 Ottawa Treaty States to use all their influence to get the United States to reverse this outrageous decision.
Access
Adresse
Broken Chair
Place of Nations
1202 Geneva
Public transport / Nations decision
Stop : Nations