How a sculpture became a movement

In the fall of 1993, somewhere in the mountains of Switzerland, the artist Carl Fredrik Reuterswärd, senior creative director and marketing professional Rolf Skjöldebrand and Jan Hellman, a top ranked IKEA director at the time working with Carl Fredrik Reuterswärd’s art collection, sat down for a dinner. They discussed how the sculpture Non-Violence – known as one of the strongest peace symbols on the planet - could be elevated into becoming a symbol for tangible non-violence initiatives. Based on ideas of the power of knowledge, violence prevention, and conflict solving the Non-Violence Project was born with a goal to target the next generations inspiring them in how to adapt a peaceful lifestyle.

The concept was piloted in Sweden and over the next few years it grew successfully, establishing offices in the U.S., Brazil, Germany and South Africa. The sculpture Non-Violence was also unveiled in several strategic places around the world, most notably in Johannesburg in memory of Kelly Mtembu, a South African NVP-staff member who became a victim of violence, causing us to believe even stronger in the idea of non-violence.

The beginning of the new millenium saw changes and new developments of our educational programs for schools and the sports community. The focus on sports proved successful and later projects such as the “Knot Violence Campaign” aimed at young football players around the world, and “Futbol for Peace” during FIFA World Cup in South Africa 2010, were introduced to further the outreach of our concept. The idea of a fibre glass replica of the symbolic sculpture Non-Violence used during “Futbol for Peace” has also become a strategic symbol for the present campaign “Imagine One Billion Faces For Peace” which emerged in 2010 as the largest call for peace ever manifested in honor of the legacy of John Lennon, 30 years after his tragic death.

This year just started. It will be an intense year for sure. We will introduce a calender page in order for you to keep track on the action.

2010

On the symbolic day, December 8th 2010, and 30 years after the tragic death shooting of John Lennon, we launched the world's largest call for peace and non-violence ever manifested – the Imagine One Billion Faces For Peace campaign. Iobffp is an educational outreach manifestation to honor the legacy of John, elevating his vision of peace and non-violence into the twenty first century. Iobffp was awarded The Facebook Non-Profit Award at SIME 2010 in competition with some other 36 global non-profit NGO's.

2009

We brought a replica of the knotted gun to Portsmouth, England and did our first pilot of what became the Futbol for Peace- program, which we later implemented during the World Cup in South Africa in summer 2010.

2008

The idea of a fibre glass replica of the knotted gun was introduced to get our symbol closer to our core target. The replica was made in a slightly smaller size than the original bronze statue.

2007

The sports focus showed to be sucessful and was well received by sport coaches and volunteers. In 2007 we introduced the Knot Violence Campaign aiming to reach out to young football players around the world with the support of celebrity football players.

2001

Launched new educational programs for schools and the sports community.

1999

Established our NVP Office in South Africa

Established our NVP Office in Germany

1997

Placed the Non-Violence sculpture in Stockholm, Sweden, unveiled by HRH Princess Victoria of Sweden.

1996

Established our NVP Office in Brazil

Received the Presidential Daily Light Award

Received the Rotary International Achievement

1995

Established the NVP New York Office

Unveiled the Non-Violence sculpture at Florida International University on the Martin Luther King Day.

1994

The NVP concept was piloted in Sweden with great success. We invited the business community to partner in our endeavour and toured roughly 100 cities, spreading our message. 24 months later we had reached 100.00 students and initiated close to 300 local projects. Once we had created proof of concept, we started to look at the United States. We wanted to place our message at the heart of the youth culture.

Established the NVP USA office in Miami, Florida and the NVP UK office in London.

1993

What if we created a content driven concept, targeting the next generation inspiring them to increase their knowledge about how to solve conflicts in a more peaceful way? Knowledge is power and most young people attend school. So, why not attract the school infrastructure to include violence prevention and life skills into the basic schedule?

Based on those ideas the Non-Violence Project emerged with its long term vision to reach out to as many schools, teachers and students as possible. The mission was clear; to inspire, motivate and engage young people how to live a more peaceful life.

Established the NVP Stockholm Office in Sweden

1988

The bronze sculpture Non-Violence was unveiled as an official symbol for peace and non-violence at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City.

1980

Our signature logo, the well known Non-Violence symbol- the gun with the knotted barrel – was created by the Swedish artist Carl Fredrik Reuterswärd as a memorial tribute to John Lennon and his vision about a world less violent.