Award Ceremony

Hosted by Secretary General Meredith Preston McGhie and featuring Jury Chair, the Rt. Honourable Joe Clark, the 2021 Global Pluralism Award ceremony was held virtually for the first time due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. During the ceremony, Hand in Hand: Center for Jewish-Arab Education in Israel, Namati Kenya, and Ms. Puja Kapai (Hong Kong) were announced as the winners of the 2021 Global Pluralism Award and recognized for their extraordinary achievements building more pluralistic societies. 

Each Award was presented by a member of the Global Centre for Pluralism’s Board of Directors: Princess Zahra Aga Khan, the Rt. Honourable Adrienne Clarkson and James Mwangi.

About the Award Sculpture

Each winner receives a commemorative sculpture that has been designed and handcrafted by renowned German artist, Karl Schlamminger. The Global Pluralism Award sculpture integrates the trefoil motif of the Centre’s headquarters at 330 Sussex Drive, Ottawa, Canada in a dodecahedron. By extracting 12 units from that tracery and recombining them into a dodecahedron, Schlamminger obtained the form which conveys the idea of a global initiative. The filigree allows the viewer to look through the object having a total view of the outside and inside. When pivoted, a multiple variety of aspects, integrated harmoniously, become apparent. The resulting three-dimensional latticework yields a plurality of intersections, offering ever new vantage points, symbolizing pluralism. The Award sculpture is made of noble materials: sandblasted stainless steel for the sphere, bog oak for the plinth and anodized aluminum for the name plates.