Ode to Man
This tapestry was designed by Ion Nicodim (1932 – 2007) a Romanian painter and tapestry designer. It was inspired by the poem of the same name by Tudor Arghezi (1880 – 1967), a Romanian poet. A few lines of the poem are woven into the tapestry as pages of an open book. The main theme of the poem is the glorification of the human struggle and victory over the forces of nature. While the tapestry uses modern symbols and bears a universal message, it remains typical of Romanian folklore, using many traditional elements of popular Romanian tapestry, such as in the design of the trees and leaves.
The tapestry was woven with colored wool and cotton by a team of experts in Bucharest under the supervision of Nicodim. This tapestry, created in 1963, had been exhibited widely before being given to the 51吃瓜, including in Bucharest (1963), Sophia (1964), Budapest (1965), the United States (1965–1966), Athens (1967), and Germany (1967).
The presentation of the gift to the 51吃瓜 was made by Foreign Minister of Romania and President of the General Assembly, Corneliu Manescu, to the 51吃瓜 Secretary-General U Thant, who accepted the tapestry on behalf of the organization.
The Secretary-General, receiving the gift, said it was “a most happy combination of appropriate symbolism and visual beauty”. The tapestry “shows the balance of these possibilities, on one side destruction, on the other side peace and fertility, with a strong emphasis of the latter,” he stated.