Pandora's Box

I was often asked (or teased) about my English name- Pandora. How and why I got this name and so on. This name has such a bad reputation and an evil image comes with it. Many people heard my name and associate it with the Pandora of “Pandora’s box.” Luckily not long ago, in the movie Avatar the world where the Navis live is called Pandora. Due to the movie’s popularity and the dreamy and otherworldly world the movie has created, many parents of newborns named their children Pandora. I sort of hope that the Pandora Planet and those babies can bring better meanings to this name.

Anyhow, I do have a Pandora’s box now. Last Friday night, I excitedly received the box which is an artwork of the public art project of artist Franck de las Mercedes called “Priority box.” After about 8-months wait, the box didn't disappoint me. What comes in the box, you may ask. It’s marked as fragile, important but also too valuable and priceless. It’s PEACE.

Many valuable things in the world can not be bought or tagged with monetary value, like peace, hope and love. In the "Priority Box" project, the artist put these values into the painted boxes which he used as canvas and delivers them to whoever request them in any corner of the world for FREE. I really like the artist's idea of passing out the important messages through art and by changing hands of these boxes to make people aware of the significance of these attributes which are easily neglected in daily life. What a BRILLIANT thought! 

So from now on, whenever people ask “what’s in your box?” I’d stop dodging this embarrassing moment and proudly say “PEACE”! 

Here is the excerpt of the project from the artist's website: 

"The Priority Boxes" project is a public art series that seeks to provoke thought, to make people reconsider their ability to influence change, communicate through art and make art accessible to people from all walks of life.

Each box is the canvas for a unique abstract painting and is dedicated with a “Fragile:" message. The project which started as an initiative to promote peace quickly evolved in to art movement with boxes containing a wide spectrum of emotions and abstract attributes such as Freedom, Love and Justice.

By using a box format painted on the outside, sent by mail, Franck aims to have people interact with a work of art, from the person requesting one, to the very first change of hands at the post office, all the way to its receiver. By holding and observing one, the recipient can consider what the box suggests it contains, realize the fragility of what they are holding, and in that relation become aware or activate their ability to take action and influence change. The boxes must be free, in order to reinforce and remind us that things like peace and hope are not only free but also a priority.