Erni fresco is unveiled at United Nations

The new Erni fresco at the UN in Geneva

A 60-metre long ceramic fresco on two walls by 100-year-old Swiss artist Hans Erni has officially been inaugurated at the United Nations in Geneva.

The mural devoted to peace is located at the entrance of the Palais des Nations, which is the European headquarters of the UN.

Erni’s signature dove, the symbol of peace, is a recurring theme on the fresco.

“I want all those people going in there to work every day to see it and think about peace,” he told a group of foreign journalists who recently visited him in his home city of Lucerne.

“I want them to be inspired.”

The mural covers what had been a plain concrete wall that was erected when security was tightened around the building after the terrorist attacks in the United States in September 2001.

Geneva has had a long relationship with the artist, who has created artworks for several international organisations in the city.

swissinfo.ch with agencies