Communicate: Talk to Each Other

In November 2002 the UNESCO General Conference and its over 150 member states drafted the Declaration of Cultural Diversity as a milestone towards the recognition of cultural differences as a universal human right. In a time when some might see a clash of civilizations as a natural state of the world, the aims of the convention were to reaffirm a cross-cultural dialogue and understanding as necessary conditions to achieve peace, a rejection of conflicts, and diverse cultural identities as a human right. The aim is to shift from cultural differences to cultural pluralism.

Close your eyes. Place all external interferences on pause. Sit down in the middle of Times Square, New York City. Imagine there are no cars. A river of people flow around you. Buzzing in every direction. Words blend, sounds clash. Different cultures, signs, and meanings meet in the air. They all combine and become one sound. One language. Yet one detail makes them all unique. The planet is so rich of cultural expressions and diversity.

At times we celebrate in harmony. In other moments we battle. There is the vital need to balance, preserve, and value diversity within a society that is to be pluralistic. Pluralism as the foundation of freedom and justice.

In an image, interpret "pluralism". Combination that becomes one sound, one language. Combination made of detail, uniqueness, diversity.