DOBROTA From the gospel of Gregory Pototsky

Russian sculptor/painter Grigory Pototskiy a.k.a. Gregory Victorovich Pototsky has created over 60 monuments in 25 countries in his mission of changing people’s lives, across the universe, through his art.

His two-meter bronze “Monument of Kindness” (represented by a stylized dandelion made to look like hands waving “hello”, in each hand is an eye which could be viewed as an “open and kind heart”) symbolizes the fragility of friendship, love and kindness. This was presented to the Cebu Provincial Government last April 5 as a prelude to its installation at the Capitol Grounds for the 442nd founding anniversary of the Province in August.

The monument, weighing around 300 kilograms, is described to be “dedicated to espousing dobrota (Russian for “kindness”). 

The installation here of the Dandelion is his way of communicating that people should be able to improve their life’s quality simply by being kind to each other.

“If we egoistically continue to prefer to ignore this, humanity will surely continue its relentless regression,” Pototsky said.

He said he has lived in it, that even in the most difficult and adverse conditions, such as in Stalin’s Gulag, people were able to survive just by being kind to each other.

“In our Russian language, dobrota also means richness,” he added. “For centuries, kindness and richness were synonymous. But we have forgotten the understanding that being kind to each other is also being rich in the sense that our communities are much more successful. Shouldn’t we ensure a better future for humanity by returning to these two values?” he further said.

Pototsky said that we must balance the hundreds of military schools and armies in the world that have only killing in their teachings. “We need to create teaching environments that promote kindness above all. There were times when churches took responsibility for these teachings, some still do it well, but many have let go on their authority, disgraced themselves with scandal, or simply abandoned it all to commercialism.”

This is the very reason he founded the International Academy of Kindness, a non-profit organization. Pototsky shared that the Academy’s priority is to reach out to the world and show that it is possible to teach and educate people to be kind in their everyday life and solve problems from “kindness” point of view.

According to him, “children are not born good or bad, we have a chance here to elevate kindness to its rightful place; it’s up to us, how we educate them. The Academy wishes that kindness teachings would be part of every school program around the world.”

The second objective is to support people whose lives and actions clearly follow the “kindness” principles - people who promote them in their daily lives. “Each country should have a Kindness Day and celebrate it every year. We have written about this idea to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and the Patriarch of Russia Cyril 1st.; many more people should write to their own governments on the idea. For a few years now, we have celebrated the Kindness Day in Moscow, on Gogolevsky Boulevard, where the head office of the Academy is located.”

Further, he stressed that the world is full of contradictions that always lead to conflicts. “The only exit from this vicious circle is to solve them from kindness point of view because only kindness and gratitude can save the world and make it better.”

Thus, the Academy of Kindness erects monuments worldwide dedicated to espousing “dobrota”. The monument, in itself, is a representation of the most common herb that can be found all around the globe - the dandelion.

“We hope everyone will recognize readily the fast-spreading nature of the plant and see how we would like it applied to kindness. As the plant spreads its seeds to vast distances, the monument reminds us of the invisible rays of kindness that should link all people in a network flowing all around the globe, a network of friendship and understanding.” — Maria Eleanor E. Valeros