Peace Monuments
Dedicated in 2002
Right click image to enlarge.
February 3, 2002 - Olympic Peace Pole Path, Olympic Village, Salt Lake City, Utah (USA). 84 peace poles -- one for each participating country in the Winter Olympics. Moved to the International Peace Gardens (qv) after the games. "An additional 84 Peace Poles were donated to each country's athletic delegation to take home with them." Image shows poles ready for shipment at Peace Pole Makers USA, Maple City, Michigan (USA).
March 9, 2002 - Centre of the Tokyo Raid & War Damage, Kitasuna 1-5-4, Koto-ku, Tokyo (Japan). Documents the fire bombing of downtown Tokyo (Shitamachi) by some 300 American bombers on March 10, 1945. Director is Katsumoto Saotome. Right image shows "Children's World Peace" statue.
April 9, 2002 - George Mason Memorial, Tidal Basin, NW, Washington, DC (USA). "Dedicated to the author of the Virginia Declaration of Rights, which inspired Thomas Jefferson while drafting the Declaration of Independence. George Mason [1725-1792] persuaded our forefathers to include individual rights as a part of the Bill of Rights." Features a 72-foot (22 m) long stone wall with a one-third larger than life-sized statue of a sitting Mason, his legs crossed, & a circular pool. The landscape architect was Faye B. Harwell. The sculptor was Wendy M. Ross.
April 12, 2002 - Swords Into Plowshares Peace Monument, World Plaza, Independence Temple, Community of Christ, Independence, Missouri (USA). Sculpted by Dave Martin. Dedicated by Ela Ghandi, recipient of the 2002 Community of Christ International Peace Award.
April 29, 2002 - International Peace Garden, Vienna (Austria). One of many International Peace Gardens in different countries. Presented to Vienna by Hiroshima (Japan).
May 2002 - Millenium International Peace Garden, Peace Palace, The Hague (Netherlands). One of many International Peace Gardens in different countries.
May 2002 - Peace Monument, Mandel Peace Garden, Brandeis University, Walham, Massachusetts (USA). Dove mosiac is now the logo of the university's Peace, Conflict & Coexistence Studies Program. "There are approximately 40 different language bricks [and] hopes to add approximately 20 more language bricks (including American Sign Language & Braile), various cultural symbols of peace, a dedication plaque & a 'peace tree.'"
May 2002 - Gandhi, King, Ikeda Peace Gardens, Leadership Cultural Park, Tinian Island (Northern Marianas Islands). "For the members of Soka Gakkai, an international group that believes in humanistic principles based on Buddhism, the three deserve emulation as they are the paragons of non-violent change." Daisaku Ikeda [right image] is president of Soka Gakkai International (SGI).
May 19, 2002 - International People's Park (IPP), Dili (East Timor). "Park & its monument in central Dili [were] inaugurated by United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan in the presence of many dignitaries." /// "In 1999, following the United Nations-sponsored act of self-determination, Indonesia relinquished control of the territory, & East Timor became the first new sovereign state of the 21st century on May 20, 2002."
May 22, 2002 - Monument to the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet, across from the Potala Palace, Lhasa (Tibet). "Celebrates the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet by the People's Liberation Army. The US$1.7 million, 37-meter-high spire-like concrete structure was designed by Professor Qikang of the South-East University of China. It is shaped as an abstract Mount Quomolangma (aka Mount Everest). An inscription refers to the expelling of 'imperialist' forces from Tibet in 1951... When apprized of the plans to build the memorial, the Tibetan government in exile claimed that 'the monument would serve as a daily reminder of the humiliation of the Tibetan people.' For Kate Saunders, spokeswoman for International Campaign for Tibet, the construction in this sensitive spot is a political message to Tibetans about Chinese rule over the region."
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LMay 22, 2002 - Memorial to the Victims of Communism, Lesser Town under Petrin Hill, Prague (Czech Republic). "The first memorial to victims of the Communist regime was unveiled in Prague. It consists of a line of quite scary statues representing different phases of a human figure’s destruction. At first one part of the body is missing, then another & another until the figure seems to totally disappear into the void. The work of renowned Czech sculptor Olbram Zoubek & architects Jan Kerel & Zdenek Hoelzel. Unfortunately one of the statues has been destroyed during a bomb attack in 2003. It is moving not just for those who were contemporary with the communist regime and know some things about it, but for everybody who passes by. It simply gives you the spooks looking at it..." Plaque inscribed "Victims of Communism - 205486 convicteded, 248 executed, 4500 died in prison, 327, died at the borders, 170938 emigrated."
2001-2002 School Year - "Westwood's Peace Monument", Westwood Elementary School, near Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island (Canada). Third grade students of class 3D make a classroom monument using virtually every symbol of peace: Dove, crane, CND peace symbol, Banner of Peace, V-sign, torch, biracial handshake. They also search the World Wide Web and post other peace monuments. Click here to see the results.
June 9, 2002 - Twin Towers (9/11 Sculpture), American Museum of Science & Energy (AMSE), Oak Ridge, Tennessee (USA). 13-foot scale model of the twin towers at World Trade Center (WTC) in New York City welded from scrap metal by Alex Limor of Limor Steel in Nashville. Photo by EWL. Click here for other 9/11 monuments.
June 30, 2002 - Garden for Peace , Sadako Peace Garden, La Casa de Maria Retreat Center, Montecito, Santa Barbara, California (USA). Entry #154 in the "Peace Movement Directory" by James Richard Bennett (2001).
2002 - "Breaking the Cycle [of Violence]" Mural, San Antonio, Texas (USA). "18th mural installed by San Antonio Cultural Arts." /// This is "Monday's Monument" #11.
2002 - Keeling-Puri Peace Plaza, Perryville Bike Path, Riverside & McFarland, Rockford, Illinois (USA). "15 foot by 34 foot sculpture “Harmony Atlas” atop a 7 foot by 25 foot granite sculpture base...adorned with 10 peace quotes..." Includes peace poles in 61 different languages.
2002 - Spirit Warriors Sculpture," Little Big Horn Battlefield National Monument, Crow Agency, Montana (USA). Iron sculpture by native artist Colleen Cutschall honoring Native Americans was placed next to the 1881 memorial (qv) after winning a "Peace Through Unity" competition. "On the memorial's walls are the names of many of the warriors involved in the battle and words of wisdom they are credited with saying. A "Spirit Gate Window" in the memorial's side looks directly at the Custer memorial on the hill in a gesture to welcome the Calvary dead into the memorial's circle."
2002 - Peacemakers Monument, Shenandoah University, Winchester, Virginia (USA). Commemorating the handshake between President Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev on December 7, 1987. Same as monument in Moscow (Russia).
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M2002 - Idaho Anne Frank Human Rights Memorial, Boise, Idaho (USA). Along the Boise Greenbelt near the Black History Museum, Boise Art Gallery, Idaho History Museum, MK Nature Center & Log Cabin Literary Center."This world-class educational park, which has been profiled in several national publications including the National Geographic book 'Etched in Stone: Enduring Words from Our Nation's Monuments,' is the only Anne Frank memorial in the USA & one of the only places in the world where the full Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is on public display. The Memorial includes a life-sized bronze statue of Anne Frank & over 60 quotes from the world's humanitarian leaders. /// Kurt Karst, an Idaho Falls architect, designed the Memorial to integrate the beauty of natural elements-like water, stone & native plants-with the message of hope in humanity." "Gregory Stone of Northampton, Massachusetts, designed a bronze statue to honor Anne Frank."
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2002 - Blue Plaque for Bertrand Russell, 34 Russell Chambers, Bury Place, London WC1 (England). Bertrand Russell [1872-1970] received the 1950 Nobel Prize for Literature. He lived here in flat no.34, 1911-1916.
2002 - Peace Garden, Epiphany Chapel & Church House, Odenton, Maryland (USA). Honors the 2,929 military chaplains who served in World War I. "'The garden is a crowning tribute to the faith and courage of chaplains who served the needs of more than 100,000 men and women that passed through Camp Meade [now Fort Meade] on their way to the trenches in France,' said the Rev. Phebe McPherson, rector at the chapel for 22 years. The garden, with benches and five bronze plaques bearing the names of every World War I chaplain, is located under shade trees by the chapel's front door." One of 100 "sacred spaces" created by the TKF Foundation 1996-2008.
July 4, 2002 - Phoenix Peace Fountain, Coleraine, County Londonderry (Northern Ireland). A beautiful gesture to Northern Ireland from many people and organizations here in the United States. It reminds me of the Statue of Liberty we received from France. It would be nice if nations recognized the accomplishments, the progress, of other countries toward peace and freedom more often. That fountain is a constant reminder to the people of Northern Ireland that although we are not just beyond the heather, but afar beyond a very broad pond, our hearts are with all the people of Northern Ireland."
July 16, 2002 - Irish Hunger Memorial, Vesey Street & North End Avenue, Battery Park City, New York City, New York (USA). "Designed collaboratively by artist Brian Tolle, landscape architect Gail Wittwer-Laird, and 1100 Architect. Dedicated to raising awareness of the Great Irish Famine - referred to by the Irish as 'The Great Hunger' or An Gorta Mor in Irish Gaelic - that killed up to a million people in Ireland between the years 1845 & 1852. It is a uniquely landscaped plot, which utilizes stones, soil & native vegetation brought in from the western coast of Ireland & contains stones from all of the different counties of Ireland. Also incorporates an authentic rebuilt Irish cottage of the 19th century."
September 5, 2002 - Garden for Peace (GFP), State Botanical Garden of Georgia, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia (USA). One of several GFP's sponsored by Gardens for Peace, Atlanta, Georgia (USA).
October 19-17, 2002 - Peace Bell, 2nd Choir Olympics, Busan (South Korea). "The Choir Olympics go to Asia for the first time. Busan, the South Korean port metropolis, is an outstanding host, giving the event an unmistakably Asian face and proving that the Choir Olympic Idea could also finds adherents in the Far East, resulting in enthusiasm all over the world. Patron: Ahn Sang-Yong, Mayor of the City of Busan.
November 4, 2002 - "Peace,", Broward College, Downtown Center Building 31, Fort Lauderdale, Florida (USA). Stainless steel sculpture by Mexican artist Leonardo Nierman.
November 30, 2002 - Peace Marker Bosnia-Herzegovin (Point of Peace #2), Zenica Museum of Art (Bosnia-Herzegovina). One of eight Worldwide Peace Markers.
December 10, 2002 - Green Island Human Rights Memorial Park, Green Island, Tai-Tung County (Taiwan). Site of two prisons which held political prisoners. Educational center opened in 2008. Green Island is 33 km off Taiwan's southeast coast.
