46 Peace Monuments Dedicated in 2003

Right click image to enlarge.

January 1, 2003 - World Peace Prayer Fountain, Fayetteville Town Center, Fayetteville, Arkansas (USA). Sculpted by Hank Kaminsky. Huge globe with "May Peace Prevail on Earth" in 100 languages is continually bathed in water and easily turned by hand. Click here for distant view.

February 2003 - Campana de la Paz / World Peace Bell, Alcobendas, Madrid (Spain). One of 20 SPB's placed in 16 different countries by the World Peace Bell Association (WPBA) of Tokyo (Japan). Left image courtesy of WPBA.

April 4, 2003 - International Peace Garden, Parco di Cellio, Rome (Italy). One of many International Peace Gardens in different countries. Presented to Rome by Vienna (Austria).

April 21, 2003 - World Peace Bell, Babur Culture and Recreation Park, Tashkent (Uzbekistan). One of 20 SPB's placed in 16 different countries by the World Peace Bell Association (WPBA) of Tokyo (Japan). Photo courtesy of Anatoly Ionesov.

May 2003 - 4th International Conference of the International Network of Museums for Peace (INMP) at the IJzertoren Museum of War, Peace & Flemish Emancipation, Diksmuide, Flanders (Belgium). Theme: ""From memories of war to education for peace." "IJzertoren" = "Yser tower" is named after the Yser River which formed the frontline during most of World War I. Image is the brochure for the 4th conference. Click here for paper by Terence Duffy, University of Ulster, Magee College.

May 2003 - International Children's Peace Sculpture, Kyoto Musuem for World Peace, Kyoto (Japan). Model of a sculpture made by Kyoto HS students after "Travis, a junior HS student from New Mexico," said at a peace seminar in Hiroshima that he'd like to see such sculptures erected all over the world. Man in photo is Prof. Ikuro Anzai, founding director of the museum.

May 2003 - Invisible Man: A Memorial to Ralph Ellison, Riverside Park (West Harlem Section), New York City, New York (USA). "American born Mexican sculptor & printmaker Elizabeth Catlett [1915-2012] designed this sculpture [honoring] Ralph Ellison [1914-1994], author of Invisible Man, one of the first novels to point out racial issues in America. He was a neighbor of the area living in front of where the sculpture stands. Catlett's works focus on Black expressionistic sculptures & prints most produced during the 60's-70's."

May 28, 2003 - Tower of Peace, Sennaya Ploschad, St. Petersburg (Russia). Monument by Clara Halter for St. Petersburg's 300th anniversary.

May 29, 2003 - Najeen / Survivor, Fardus Square, Baghdad (Iraq). On same pedestal from which the statue of Saddam Hussein was toppled on April 9, 2003. "For the new plaster sculpture, 23 feet tall (7 meters), the Najeen created abstract figures of a mother, father, and child holding a crescent moon, symbol of Islam, around a sun, symbol of the Sumerian civilization... The graffiti-marked pedestal bears a sign with the sculpture's title: 'NAJEEN.'"

June 8, 2003 - Garden for Peace , Chandor Gardens, Weatherford, Texas (USA). This is one of several gardens within a garden sponsored by "Gardens for Peace" of Atlanta, Georgia (USA). "Chandor Gardens is a unique world-class paradise featuring an enchanting array of creativity, color and beauty. The gardens were lovingly designed and created by renowned English portrait artist Douglas Chandor [1897-1953] over 70 years ago yet remain a spectacular marvel."

June 10, 2003 - Isla Vista Peace Monument, Perfect Park, Isla Vista, California (USA). Near University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB). At site of numerous anti-Vietnam War concerts, rallies & peace events in the late 1960's and early 1970's, culminating in the historic sit-in of June 10, 1970 (right image).

June 2003 - World Wall For Peace (WWFP), Ennerdale High School, near Johannesburg (South Africa).

2003 - Garden for Peace , Cheyenne Botanical Gardens, Lions Park, Cheyenne, Wyoming (USA).

June 20-October 2003 - Topiary Hiroshima Peace Bell, Mosaicultures Internationales / Mosaiculture International (3rd annual), Old Port, Montreal, Quebec (Canada). Temporary monument made of living plants.

T R A I L

June 27, 2003 - Carter-King Peace Walk, Freedom Park (National Park Service), Atlanta, Georgia (USA). 1.5 mile trail with six outdoor exhibits. Honors two Nobel Peace Prize laureates: Martin Luther King, Jr. [1929-1968] and Jimmy Carter [born 1924]. Links the Carter Center & Library with the Martin Luther King, Jr., National Historical Site. Image shows former Gary Lee Price. Same sculpture erected in Loveland, Colorado (USA) in 2001. Info courtesy of Anna Lee.

S C U L P T

2003 - "Circle of Peace" Sculpture, Hospital for Women & Children, Huntsville, Alabama (USA). Sculpture by Gary Lee Price. Same sculpture erected in Loveland, Colorado (USA) in 2001. Info courtesy of Anna Lee.

October 2, 2003 or 2004 - Statue of Mahatma Gandhi, Houston Garden Center, Hermann Park, McGovern Centennial Gardens, Houston, Texas (USA). /// Donated by the Government of India. Dedicated on Gandhi"s birthday. Information courtesy of Susan Ives.

October 2, 2003 or 2004 - Statue of Mahatma Gandhi, Houston Garden Center, Hermann Park, McGovern Centennial Gardens, Houston, Texas (USA). /// Donated by the Government of India. Dedicated on Gandhi"s birthday. Information courtesy of Susan Ives.

S C U L P T

2003 - Broken Obelisk, Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin (Germany). Last of four identical monuments by Barnett Newman [1905-1970]. Each is 6,000 pounds of Corten steel more than 25 feet high -- a pyramid topped by a reversed obelisk ascending yet torn, or 'broken,' at its top, obviously some kind of symbolic object roughly resembling traditional monuments of combined pyramid and obelisk. Newman himself described the sculpture in terms conventional to his art: 'It is concerned with life, and I hope I have transformed its tragic content into a glimpse of the sublime.'" See identical monuments in Houston, New York City & Seattle (USA).

2003 - Rotary International Peace Monument, Charles J. Clark Square, Windsor, Ontario (Canada). Erected by Rotary Club of Windsor-Roseland. Photo shows portion of the monument with Caesars Windsor (casino) in the immediate background and the Renaissance Center in Detroit, Michigan (USA), in the distance.

2003 - Winter War Monument, Suomussalmi (Finland). "The Winter War began with the Soviet invasion of Finland on 30 November 1939 & ended with the Moscow Peace Treaty on 13 March 1940. The League of Nations deemed the attack illegal and expelled the Soviet Union from the League on 14 December 1939... This stone field reminds us of the human suffering which the war brought [and] impels the viewer to reflect on the mindlessness of war... The monument contains 105 brass bells, one for each day of the Winter War." /// This is "Monday's Monument" #85.

M U S E U M

2003 - Museo para la Paz / Museum for Peace, La Fundación Arias para la Paz y el Progreso Humano, Avenida Segunda, costado oeste Plaza de la Democracia, San José (Costa Rica).

2003 - Friedensmauer / Peace Wall, Moosdorf, Braunau am Inn (Austria). "With the appointment to the Peace Community in 2003 [sic], Moosdorf committed itself to supporting all peace activities in the community, both ideally & financially. This peace consciousness has an external sign - peace monument & peace wall. Every citizen as well as visitor can form & shape his own peace brick. It is then [fired] & inserted into the wall. Thus, the monument continues to grow, it already consists of more than 4,000 peace bricks. /// The Moosdorfer Peace Dialogue is an association that strives for peace at home & around the world. Our association currently comprises about 50 members & was founded in 2003. We see ourselves as a non-partisan, independent, open & accessible platform, which places peace efforts at the forefront. A core group of about 10 people meet[s] once a month to discuss planned actions, ongoing projects & peace talks or to critically question the current world events. [Google translation]" One of 15 peace monuments found in July 2017 by Googling "Friedensdenkmal" or "Friedensmahnmal."

2003 - Worlds Children Peace Monument (WCPM), Coe Lake Park, Berea, Ohio. "Designed at the ARK in Berea as a project of the International Center for Environmental Arts (ICEA)... Will become the largest art work dedicated to a sustainable Culture of Peace as Peace Stones are added annualy to cities around the World. Officially inaugurated in 2003 at the 3rd World Peace Conference, Children of the Earth, in Verbania, Lago Maggiore, Italy, by American Cultural Ambassadors David and Renate Jakupca, where they received an Italian Medal of Arts."

B R I D G E

2003 - Peace Bridge, Freetown (Sierra Leone). The Truth & Reconciliation Commission renamed the Congo Cross Bridge to mark the place where the invasion of Freetown on 6 January1999 was stopped. The Peace Bridge reminds the people of Sierra Leone that the war was overcome. And it gives hope that peace will become the bridge to the future.

G A R D E N

2003 - International World Peace Rose Garden, State Capitol Park, Sacramento, California (USA).

. 2003 - Unfortified Boundary Marker, Yukon Territory (Canada) & Alaska (USA). "With contributions of Kiwanis clubs in Canada (mostly BC) and the U.S. (mostly Washington) this stone monument on the Alaska/Canada border reads: 'This unfortified boundary line between the Dominion of Canada and the United States of America should quicken the remembrance of the more than a century old friendship between these countries, a lesson of peace to all nations.' The monument was erected in 2003, over twenty years after Canada officially dropped the word "Dominion of" from its title." What is exact location?

G A R D E N

2003 - Garden for Peace , Cheyenne Botanical Gardens, Lions Park, Cheyenne, Wyoming (USA)

2003 - St. Ethelburga's Centre for Reconciliation & Peace, 78 Bishopsgate, London (England). "Christian-led, independent charity. Aims to encourage and enable people to practise reconciliation and peace-making in their communities and lives." Former Church of England "built around 1180. The present building was probably founded around 1400. Was the biggest building in Bishopsgate - now it's the smallest... Devastated by a massive IRA bomb on April 24, 1993. Rebuilt in a new form, reinstating its medieval exterior."

2003 - Statue de la Paix, Fonsorbes, Haute-Garonne (France). "Sculptée dans le tronc d’un cèdre en 2003." Also called "Colombe de la Liberte"?

July 12, 2003 - International Peace & Friendship Monument, Arlington Museum of Art, Arlington, Texas (USA). Similar monument in sister city Bad Königshofen (Germany).

June 2001 - Peace & Friendship Monument, Arlington Park, Bad Königshofen (Germany). Celebrates sister city relationship with Arlington, Texas (USA).

P O L E

July 2003 - Peace Pole, Riverscape MetroPark, Deeds Point, Webster Street, Dayton, Ohio (USA). Donated by Friendship Force of Dayton to outdoor "Centennial of Flight" exhibit (which -- according to the exhibit -- climaxed with the Dayton Peace Accords on December 24, 1995).

July 20, 2003 - Greenham March Statue, City Hall, Cardiff (Wales). By Anton Agous of Malta. "She will keep alive the memory of this womens action for peace which started from Cardiff in 1981 and went around the world. " One of 13 sites on the MAW Peace Map of the British Isles as of January 2009.

Date? - Womens Peace Mural, Pentonville Road, London N1 (England). "The design shows aspects of women, peace and Greenham Common in a format reminiscent of medieval paintings. The backward looking Sankofa Bird reminds people not to be afraid to rectify past mistakes."

F L A M E

July 31, 2003 - World Peace Flame (WPF), Dru Worldwide Course Centre, Snowdonia Mountain Lodge, Nant Ffrancon, Bethesda, Bangor, Gwynedd (Wales). Third of seven WPF's sponsored by the WPF Foundation in Heteren (Netherlands). The other six WPF's are in the Netherlands, Australia (New South Wales) & the USA (Tennessee).

August 2, 2003 - Monument to Norman Cousins, in front of Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, Hiroshima (Japan). To honor the achievements of Norman Cousins [1915-1990], "including promotion of the moral adoption project for A-bomb and war orphans, his efforts in helping female A-bomb survivors receive keloid treatment in the U.S. and his continued appeal to the world for elimination of nuclear weapons treatment in the U.S. and his continued appeal to the world for elimination of nuclear weapons." #53 of 56 "cenotaphs & monuments" on the Virtual E-Tour. Photo by EWL.

B E L L

September 11, 2003 - Peace Bell, Veterans Park, Ridgefield, New Jersey (USA). Community response to the terrorist attack in nearby New York City on September 11, 2001.

M E M O R I A L September 11, 2003 - "One World United for Peace," Town Common, Norfolk, Massachusetts (USA). September 11th Memorial. Sculpted by Michael Alfano. Bronze & granite 78"x30"x30". "The sculpture's shape implies that of the World Trade Center. Thirteen figures atop the tower surround & support a globe, symbolizing that peace requires people from around the world to draw together. The sculpture rests on a five-sided base, representing the Pentagon, & the '93' on the firefighter's hat symbolizes the flight number of the hijacked plane that crashed in Pennsylvania. In 2006, the town of Clifton, New Jersey, permanently installed the 9/11 memorial at their Arts Center."

September 13, 2003 - Memorial Garden, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey (USA). Garden memorializes 13 Princeton alumni who were killed on 9/11. Bell at the garden entrance is from "Remembrance" by Japanese-American artist Toshiko Takaezu [b.1922], a Japanese-American "ceramist, weaver and painter who retired from Princeton in 1992 after teaching for a quarter of a century in our Visual Arts program."

M U S E U M

September 2003 - Halabja Martyrs Monument & Museum, Halabja (Iraq). A 100-foot-tall modern structure with a museum inside. Honors the thousands of people killed in 1988 when Saddam Hussein's army infamously attacked the town with chemical weapons. Opened just six months after the US invasion of Iraq. Secretary of State Colin Powell & other US dignitaries attended opening ceremony and were received by cheering crowds in the streets. Demonstrators set the monument on fire March 16, 2006, in protest against lack of government assistance.

G A R D E N

September 18, 2003 - Jardin de la Paix / Peace Garden, Domaine de Trembley, rue Moillebeau, Geneva (Switzerland). Jardin impressionniste de Moillebeau renamed in memory of Brazilian Sergio Vieira de Mello [1948-2003] and 21 other Unied Nations employees who were killed in Baghdad (Iraq) on August 19, 2003.

T R E E

September 24, 2003 - "Deir Yassin Remembered," Seneca Lake (western shore), New York, New York (USA). Bronze sculpture of an uprooted olive tree by [political cartoonist] Khalil Bendib. Inscription: "Earth torn roots yearning, Palestine landscape mourning displaced descendants. Randa Hamwi Duwaji. Perpetrated by terrorists of the Irgun and Stern Gang, the massacre of Palestinian men, women, and children at Deir Yassin on April 9, 1948 is arguably the most pivotal event in 20th century Palestinian history. // The massacre symbolizes the Zionist quest to build a Jewish state on land inhabited for centuries by Muslims, Christians, and Jews. It marks the begining of the descruction of over 400 Palestinian villages and the exile of more than 700,000 Palestinians. // Over half the population in the land controlled by Israel is not Jewish. Most of these non-Jews are Palestinians. Yet there are few memorails to mark their history and none to mark the massacre at Deir Yassin, which lies 3 km west of the Old City of Jerusalem and only 1,400 m to the north of Yad Vashem, the most famous of all the Holocaust memorials. The irony is breathtaking. // Khalil Bendib, Sculptor, 2003. www.deiryassin.org"

V I L L A G E

April 9, 1948 - Palestinian Village of Deir Yassin (Israel). Unintentional monument. Scene of the Deir Yassin Massacre. Lower photo is Deir Yassin as seen from Yad Vashem; the village lies in the green trees to the right of the water tower.

October 11, 2003 - "Musica,", Traffic Circle, Music Row, Nashville, Tennessee (USA). 48-foot composition of eight nude figures by Nashville sculptor Alan LeQuire. Symbolizes Nashville's music business but expresses positive exuberence similar to some peace monuments, e.g. Constellation Earth in Nagasaki (Japan) & Bluffton, Ohio (USA).

VAOctober 13, 2003 - Garden for Peace , Charlottesville Historical Society Garden (downtown), Charlottesville, Virginia (USA)

October 14 2003 - Alfred Nobel Monument, Theodore Roosevelt Park, 81st Street & Columbus Avenue, New York City, New York (USA). Honors the 306 American laureates of the Nobel Prize. Additional laureates are added during an annual inscription ceremony. Sculpted by Swedish sculptor Sivert Lindblom, and presented in part by the Swedish Embassy. Adjacent to the American Museum of Natural History ("probably the most-visited museum in the world"). Click here for a New York Times article about Nobel laureates from New York City.

October 27, 2003 - First Children's International Peace Garden, Pope John Paul II Cultural Center, 3900 Harewood Road, NE, Washington DC (USA). "Honors Pope John Paul II’s Peace Efforts...during the Silver Jubilee of his extraordinary pontificate." One of many International Peace Gardens in different countries.

November 2003 - Peace Mural, Art, War & Peace Museum, 1620 Washington Avenue, Miami, Florida (USA). By Vietnamese artist Houng. "In its entirety, the Peace Mural is over 800 feet in length and 8 feet tall, comprised of nearly 2000 paintings that capture highly evocative images and concepts of war and related themes, including the effects of war on women and children, veterans, refugees, torture, and displacement." Gallery moved from Jensen Beach to Miami in November 2007.

November 2003 - Center for Peace Museum, 99-1 Kyunji-Dong, Jongno-Gu, Seoul (South Korea). "Set up in the wake of the late-1990’s apology movement for the massacre of civilians committed by the Korean forces during the Vietnam War. The 'seed' was sown by two former 'comfort women,' sex slaves for the defunct Japanese Imperial Military, who made donations in the hope that there would be no more victims of war. With the spirit of 'pain, memory, solidarity,' the Center aims to remember all the wars in the world & unite with war-victimized people. The Center opened a 100-square-meter site named 'space peace' near Insadong, the well-known tourist spot in Seoul. In order to nurture peace-loving minds, photo & painting exhibitions have been held under such themes as Japanese aggression, the Iraq War, & South Korea’s diehard military culture stemming from the Korean War & the resulting division of the Korean land. South Korea has a war museum but not a peace museum. We do not intend to construct a grand building, but to develop a peaceful culture to overcome the 'war/military culture' that permeates South Korean society. We intend to continue transmitting this message from our corner of Seoul." Affiliated with International Network of Museums for Peace (INMP).

December 9, 2003 - Statue of Europe "Unity in Peace," Centre Erasmus, Jardin Van Maerlant. Brussels (Belgium). "Dedicated to Europe and offered to the European Commission by the French sculptor Bernard Romain. At the occasion of the year 2003 which was devoted to disabled people. Manufactured, modelled, polished and painted by children with challenged vision of different cultures under the supervision of Bernard Romain."

December 12, 2003 - Peace Bell, "Memorial Hall for Compatriots Killed in the Nanjing Massacre," Nanjing, Jiangsu Province (China). Dedicated one day before the 66th anniversary of the Nanjing massacre. Miniature of this bell is on display in the Kyoto Museum for World Peace in Kyoto (Japan).