The Ship of Tolerance spans countries, religions, and race. First conceived over ten years ago, the project was created by Ilya and Emilia Kabakov as a collaborative artwork for children around the world. Both Kabakovs are artists and have had their works displayed at places such as the Pace Gallery, The Saatchi Gallery, The Serpentine Gallery, and the Grand Palais. The famous couple was also recently the subject of a documentary film which focused on their long-lived experiments in and contributions to contemporary art.

The Custodian: How did the Ship of Tolerance begin?

Emilia Kabakov: It started in Siwa. The general idea was the belief that culture can create friendships and relationships between people. We did it for the children there—and can you believe that the local children had never been on the lake? The other versions of the ship we did in Miami, Havana, New York, St. Moritz, Moscow, and Sharjah. Sometimes it was difficult to arrange the projects in Cuba and in Moscow but everything went well once the governments were clear that it wasn’t political but about universal education for the future.

C: What has been the most rewarding aspect of the project?

E: Many of the children grow up more open-minded and become ambassadors for understanding. We also talk about dreams. There was a girl who was making a painting for the Venice ship and she said, ‘I wish in the future people marry each other, black people marry white people, yellow people marry brown people, so that everyone becomes the same colour’. It’s always so fun to hear their ideas and see how easy it is for them to learn the basics of human rights and the fact that we share so much despite our differences.

C: Were there any specific figures in the art world who were big influences on your style and beliefs?

E: No. In my time, because there were no material things, and we were striving to be somebody, it wasn’t about money. It was about changing the world. That’s what we’re trying to do and it starts with learning lessons at a young age. In 2010, when we did the ship in Sharjah, that was the first time those children had ever received an arts education. This was one town but think about the changes that might happen if more cities in the Middle East ran young art education programs.

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