Hope is often mistaken for optimism, as though it were a light feeling, a promise of better things, or an instinctive belief that suffering will pass. Yet in the teachings of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, hope is something far more disciplined. It is not passive consolation, nor a refusal to acknowledge difficulty. It is a practice of attention, compassion and determination, sustained precisely because the world is uncertain.

In January 2023, CIRCA inaugurates its 20:23 programme with The Art of Hope, a three-minute animation and message from His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, recorded inside his office in Dharamshala, India, where he has lived in exile since 1959. Addressing audiences across public screens in London, Berlin, Los Angeles and Melbourne, the 87-year-old spiritual leader calls for a renewed understanding of human interconnectedness: “I am trying to promote the sense of oneness of 7 billion human beings. This world, we have to live together.”

The work is developed in response to CIRCA’s 2023 manifesto, Hope: The Art of Reading What Is Not Yet Written, which asks how hope might be created, protected and shared in a time marked by fragmentation. For His Holiness, the answer begins with recognition. However divided humanity may appear by nation, belief, language or circumstance, every person wishes to be happy and to avoid suffering. This simple truth forms the ethical foundation of his lifelong work: the promotion of human values, religious harmony, the preservation of Tibetan culture and environment, and the revival of ancient Indian wisdom.

Presented on some of the world’s most visible advertising screens, The Art of Hope transforms spaces usually devoted to consumption into moments of reflection. The commission does not offer hope as spectacle. Instead, it asks viewers to consider hope as an active responsibility, inseparable from compassion and patience. “Along the way we may be faced with problems,” His Holiness writes, “but we must not lose hope. We must keep up our determination without being impatient to achieve quick results.”

That relationship between hope and determination is central to the work. Hope, here, is not naïve. It is shaped by exile, loss, endurance and the long work of peace. It recognises suffering without surrendering to it. It understands that transformation rarely arrives quickly, and that compassion must be practiced repeatedly, even in moments when division appears easier.

Extending beyond the screen, CIRCA invites the public throughout 2023 to answer the question: How Do We Create Hope? Published alongside a response from His Holiness the Dalai Lama, selected contributions will form the first CIRCA book. In this way, The Art of Hope becomes not only a message from one of the world’s most influential spiritual figures, but the beginning of a collective inquiry into what hope can mean now.

At its heart, the commission proposes that hope is not something we wait for. It is something we create through how we live with one another. It begins in the recognition that our futures are shared, and that compassion remains one of the most practical forces available to us.

His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, is one of the most respected spiritual leaders of our time. For more than seven decades, he has advocated for peace, compassion, non-violence and the fundamental interconnectedness of humanity, becoming a global symbol of moral leadership and dialogue across cultural, political and religious boundaries.

Born in 1935 to a farming family in northeastern Tibet, he was recognised at the age of two as the reincarnation of the 13th Dalai Lama and formally assumed his responsibilities as Tibet’s spiritual leader during a period of profound political upheaval. Following his exile from Tibet in 1959, he established a democratic government-in-exile in India and dedicated his life to promoting human values, religious harmony, the preservation of Tibetan culture and the importance of cultivating compassion as a guiding principle for society. In recognition of these efforts, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989.

Throughout his life, the Dalai Lama has consistently encouraged dialogue over division, emphasising what he describes as the “oneness of humanity”. His teachings transcend religious boundaries, addressing universal questions of ethics, responsibility and how individuals can contribute to a more peaceful world. Through countless books, lectures and public appearances, he has inspired millions to consider how kindness, empathy and mutual understanding can serve as foundations for social and political change.

In 2023, His Holiness collaborated with CIRCA on The Art of Hope, inaugurating the CIRCA 20:23 programme with a global public message centred on unity, compassion and collective responsibility. Broadcast across public screens in London, Berlin, Los Angeles and Melbourne, the commission responded to CIRCA’s annual manifesto, Hope: The Art of Reading What Is Not Yet Written, and invited audiences around the world to reflect on how hope is created and sustained. Accompanied by a limited-edition publication supporting the Tibet Hope Centre, the project extended the Dalai Lama’s lifelong commitment to fostering understanding and reminding humanity of its shared future.

Today, His Holiness continues to be recognised as one of the world’s most influential advocates for peace and human dignity. His message remains both simple and profound: that despite our differences, we are deeply interconnected, and that compassion is not merely a personal virtue but a necessary foundation for the future of humanity.