Norwich exhibition shows power of forgiveness
 2010: Powerful images and stories about the F Word – Forgiveness - were on display in Norwich Cathedral until Friday December 3.
The free exhibition, promoted by Norwich School, produced by the Forgiveness Project is a powerful photographic exhibition exploring the idea of forgiveness in the face of atrocity and telling the stories of victims as well as perpetrators.
It is the brainchild of journalist Marina Cantacuzino and photographer Brian Moody who in January 2004, tired of a climate where revenge and retaliation dominated the headlines, resolved to present the public with an alternative view.
Travelling to places including the United States, South Africa, Northern Ireland, Romania, Rwanda, Israel and Palestine, as well as the UK, they collected the stories of 26 people whose lives had been shattered by violence, tragedy and injustice - and who had chosen to take the challenging and often painful journey towards forgiveness.
The Chaplain at Norwich School, Nic Tivey, saw the exhibition several years ago in London and decided to take it into our local prisons where he was working at the time.
“The exhibition had an incredible impact then, and since arriving as Chaplain to Norwich school I thought it was something that would tie in with the curriculum” said Nic. “It is both challenging and inspiring something everyone should explore. Also by choosing the new Hostry as the location we thought we could share the exhibition with the general public of Norwich and Norfolk.
“None of us are untouched by the issue of forgiveness. I can still remember the words of Gordon Wilson after the Enniskillen Bombing in 1987 ‘I will bear no ill will. Dirty sort of talk is not going to bring her back to life. She was a great wee lassie’ That was over half my life ago and those words had an incredible impact on me. They set me thinking really for the first time about forgiveness – what it is and whether it has limits.
“The ‘F word’ explores these issues, it is both inspiring and challenging but also realistic. In the words of pop star Annie Lennox ‘Forgiveness is a radical concept: not easy, but potentially miraculous’.
“The exhibition takes about 30 minutes to walk round but will leave you thinking for days. It is simple in presentation, but extraordinary in effect and it’s free,” said Nic.
The exhibition’s subjects include Richard McCann, whose mother was the first victim of the Yorkshire Ripper; Marian Partington, whose sister was murdered by Frederick and Rosemary West; Pat Magee, the man behind the IRA Brighton bomb and Jo Berry, whose father was killed in the blast; Linda Biehl (pictured above), whose daughter was killed in South Africa and now works alongside her daughter’s killers; and Andrew Rice, whose brother David was killed in the World Trade Center bombing.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who himself features in the exhibition and is a patron of The Forgiveness Project, describes forgiveness as a journey out of victimhood. “Forgiveness does not mean condoning what has been done. It means taking what has happened seriously and not minimising it; drawing out the sting in the memory that threatens to poison our entire existence. In these forgiveness stories there is real healing.”
The exhibition is produced by The Forgiveness Project, a non-partisan, non-religious charitable organisation working at local, national and international level to help build a future free of conflict and violence by healing the wounds of the past. By collecting and sharing people’s stories, and delivering outreach programmes, The Forgiveness Project encourages and empowers people to explore the nature of forgiveness and alternatives to revenge.
The exhibition is in the Hostry Visitor and Education Centre and open until Friday December 3. Opening hours are Monday to Saturday 9.30am to 4.30pm and Sunday 12 noon to 3.00pm.
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