01 / The Project
A Project Born of
Hope and Optimism
Launched in May 1990, The Hope and Optimism Portfolio is a unique global art project with no geographical, political or cultural boundaries. It is of such vision and hope as is unlikely ever to be repeated or emulated.
01Origins
How the Portfolio Came to Be
The National Gallery, or equivalent body in each country of the world, was approached to nominate a leading artist to represent that country. In addition, the project was advised by a group of internationally respected consultants as well as art institutions and leading galleries around the world.
The artist selected contributed a limited edition of two hundred original, signed and numbered graphics in any medium of their choice, to a maximum paper size of 56 × 76 cm (22 × 30 ins).
02The Collection
A Portfolio That Spans the World
Within these parameters, the participating artists created a portfolio that not only spans the world culturally but spans the entire technical range of the graphic medium. There are etchings, screenprints, stone and plate lithographs, linocuts, woodcuts, plastographs, monotypes, photographs, computer generated images, aquatints, collages, hand-coloured works and more.
Images have varied in size from 14 × 10 cm to a diptych of 112 × 152 cm. Where a nation is a federation or union of states — for example the USA — a maximum of 10 artists were invited depending on the size of the individual states comprising that country.
With the evolution of the world's political map, the Portfolio too has evolved. In one case, the artist selected was a refugee and it was felt she should represent those who are stateless — La Terre Humaine. The artists selected by the former East and West Germanies seem to mirror their countries' concerns prior to unification.
03Mission & Charitable Purpose
Art as a Bridge Across Time and Borders
The Portfolio is a charitable project. Its benefactors are Magdalen College, Oxford (UK), and art and artists around the world, through the Peace View charity (registered charity number: 1111997).
It began from an idea of the Project Director, who felt that in the entire history of the human race it has been through art and culture that countries and peoples of the world have 'seen', worked with and come to know each other on a long-term basis.
The beneficiaries of the Portfolio, like its contributing artists, are truly universal. The Portfolio is currently being offered to museums around the world for much less than its real monetary value.
Accorded the Haut Patronage of UNESCO.
04The Theme
Hope and Optimism in Spite of Present Difficulties
Its theme is inspired by a linocut — Hope and Optimism: In Spite of Present Difficulties — by the late Namibian artist John Muafangejo. This image, with its handshake of love and co-operation, has been accorded the universality of Picasso's Doves. Its first public use was as the theme for both Nelson Mandela Concerts.
The Director's Vision
“What you have here is indeed a scaled-down version of my vision. I did want every single country to participate — this just proved impossible. I did want to set up Hope and Optimism centres on each continent, and I had the hope that once every decade a Portfolio like this could be created.
It has taken almost 10 years to create the portfolio, but the mood of the world had changed — hope and optimism had turned to disillusionment and pessimism. Now, 20 years after its completion, there is more than ever a need for a portfolio that can be seen all over the globe. We will try again to place it in museums and institutions around the world, to show what can be done by the human spirit.”
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