A La Unidad Humana (Human Unity)
A La Unidad Humana means “Human Unity” and was completed by Victor Manuel Contreras (b. 1941), a highly accomplished abstract sculptural artist. The sculpture, “Human Unity”, is a hand forged and polished bronze armillary form. This earthly sphere consists of a framework of rings that represent longitude, latitude and other astronomical features such as the ecliptic. It differs from the celestial globe which is a spherical representation of the sky showing the constellations. The artist has said, “The Hands of God, Human Unity, and Good and Evil are all themes of my public works. I create these sculptures for the benefit of the public, so that people can be moved and inspired to realize the greater themes of life.”
This gift from Mexico presented by the President of Mexico, Lic. Jose Lopez Portillo, arrived at the United Nations Headquarters in New York on 1 November 1979. The gift promotes the idea of human unification within a form of sphere, which represents Earth. Therefore, it’s asking the people of Earth to unite.