Pierre Ceresole and the beginnings of SCI
"Je promets de respecter la constitution tant que je pourrai le faire en toute conscience et seulement là"
Pierre Ceresole, Conseil Cantonal, Neuchâtel (1928)
A travelling exhibition to commemorate SCI’s 90th anniversary in 2010
Next year, in 2010, SCI will celebrate its 90th anniversary. An informative exhibition about the fascinating life of Pierre Ceresole and the beginnings of SCI has been planned for the autumn.
The international Archives of SCI and the Public Library of La Chaux-de-Fonds are collaborating to produce a visually attractive exhibition, made up of original - French language - archive material, which will be shown in Switzerland and France.
There will also be an English language version of the exhibition. In parallel, it will be made available in digital format (PDF), on request, to SCI branches everywhere for printing and/or local display. Branches and groups are herewith invited to show the fascinating beginnings of SCI to the public at large. It's possible to translate the exhibition into other languages as well.
The exhibition contents:
The first SCI workcamp took place near Verdun (France) in 1920 to reconstruct a village which had been destroyed during the Great War (1914-1918). Wanting to develop a humanitarian equivalent to military service, the idea of creating SCI – aid work carried out by international volunteers - was then launched by the committed pacifist Pierre Ceresole. For more than two decades before World War II he initiated and worked in international workcamps in France, the United Kingdom, Norway and India.
The exhibition will highlight various interesting aspects of Ceresole's life and the early years of SCI:
- Pierre Ceresole's family, his studies, his journey around the world (1879-1914).
- Conscientious objection against war (WWI 1914-1918).
- The first SCI workcamp (1920/21).
- International workcamps (1924-1933).
- The teaching appointment in La Chaux-de-Fonds (1925-1939)
- In Nazi Germany for Peace’ (1933/1942/1944)
- Pierre Ceresole in India (1934/1935/ 1936).
- The scandals he provoked during WWII (1939-1941) * His heritage : the SCI today.
Texts, illustrations and scans of original documents will be mounted on display boards for visual attractiveness. There will be explanatory texts about people who were important figures for Ceresole, and each board will contain a chronological biographical axis. The layout will be carried out by a professional graphic artist.
Joining in the commemoration ?
SCI branches and other organisations/institutions would thus have at their disposal thoroughly compiled and illustrated exhibition material; for use, either wholly or in part, for their 90th anniversary celebrations - or for any other SCI promotional campaign they may wish to organize.
As things stand at the moment we plan on making three versions of the exhibition. French, English and German in digital format (PDF) ready to print. It could be translated into other languages.
Interested ? The following expenses and tasks will have to be taken into account:
- Organization and promotion of displaying the exhibition in your country.
- Printing the display boards; the cost of which depends on the material used: Poster, banner, roll-up: between 30€ and 300€ per board (approximate cost in Western Europe)
- For languages other than French, English and German, please contact us.
The computerized exhibition material will be available from September 2010 on.
Why / what for ?
- The exhibition offers a good opportunity for promoting ideas, working concepts and relating the values of SCI to a wider public.
- The exhibition focuses on the beginnings of SCI from 1920 on, and examines issues of international relations and the philosophy of pacifism.
- Pierre Ceresole was one of the most fascinating pacifists in the first half of the 20th century. His strong convictions against war and militarism, and the merits of SCI are widely acknowledged.
Worth knowing :
- The exhibition is not specifically intended to attract new volunteers. The target group is experienced volunteers, long-standing members and other SCI stake-holders, like partners and donors.
- Ceresole was known as a radical pacifist who instigated several public controversies, which differed from what became the traditional apolitical approach of SCI. It's not the idea of the exhibition to argue for or against, but to bring those aspects closer together.
- The idea of SCI was initiated at a peace conference in Bilthoven (Netherlands) which took place between 21st and 28th July 1920. The first workcamp in Esnes, near Verdun, started on 19.11.1920 and lasted till 21.04.1921.
If you require more information, a detailed concept of the exhibition is available on request. If you are interested, please let us know before 10th December 2009, at archives@service-civil-international.org
Add a comment
@ Idea, that branches show the exhibition
As Sri Lanka and Italy and maybe other branches are interested in showing the exhibition as well, I'm thinking for a solution: the
the exhibition is layouted in English as well, put is printed locally on paper. The format would need to be adapted from the banner size.
But the advantage would be, that branches could show it in late 2010 linked with an event.
I will discuss this in Mid-August with the project partners.
@idea exhibition in Ormonts, Almens...
A intention of the Ceresole exhibition should motivate to do more studies on Ceresole and the pacifist work of SCI by linking it to local history of Lausanne, La Chaux-de-Fonds, Verdun. The target group (historians, intellectuals, decision maker) is in my opinion larger than.
For villages Ormonts, Almens,... it would be better to organize events. The target group would be also SCI members or volunteers.
Anyway, any place of the exhibition would have to offer appropriate location for the exhibition and lot of coordination work would be necessary.
Can we also suggest to have the exhibition in "Les Ormonts", "Almens", "Feldis", "Safien", and other places were early workcamps took place in Switzerland and Lichtenstein?
The exhibition will be shown in La Chaux-de-Fonds between September and November 2010. Later it is planned in Verdun (place of first SCI Workcamp) and Lausanne (birth place of Ceresole).
Other places should preferably have link to Ceresole or SCI. For the Netherlands I think Bilthoven would be interesting. But this depends if an adequate rooms for the exhibition is found.
The exhition also will go to NL?
Best Regards, Iris