Peace Monuments
Dedicated in 2006
Right click image to enlarge.
February 2006 - The Peace Tower, Whitney Museum of American Art, Sculpture Court, Madison Avenue at 75th Street, New York City, New York (USA). Created for the 2006 Whitney Biennial by Mark Di Suvero & Rirkrit Tiravanija. Two hundred other artists each contributed a 2x2 foot panel. Left image shows "The Artists' Tower of Protest" (aka Peace Tower) against the War in Viet Nam as conscructed by Di Suvero in Los Angeles in 1966. Click here for journalistic description.
February 23, 2006 - Rotary Peace Monument, Queen Sirikit Park, Pratumnak Hill, Pattaya (Thailand). One of several peace monuments promoted by the Rotary Club of Wagga Wagga, New South Wales (Australia).
March 8, 2006 - Peace Marker Republic of Turkey, Point of Peace #6, Freedom Park, Isanbul (Turkey). One of eight Worldwide Peace Markers. Image shows Freedom Park.
April 26, 2006 - International Peace Garden, St. Patrick's Park (beside St. Patrick’s Cathedral), Dublin (Ireland). One of many International Peace Gardens in different countries. Presented to Ireland by Nicosia (Cyprus)
April 30, 2006 - World Poet Laureates' Monument, SGI-'s Korea-Japan Friendship Training Center, Soka Gakkai International (SGI), Cheju Island (South Korea). Commemorates May 3, Soka Gakkai Day. Inscribed with a quote from SGI President Daisaku Ikeda. Bronze busts of Indian poet and educator Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941), Italian poet laureate Francesco Petrarca (1304-1374), and British poet William Wordsworth (1770-1850) were also unveiled. This year marks the 25th anniversary of Mr. Ikeda's receiving the title of Poet Laureate (1981, by World Congress of Poets) as well as the 11th anniversary of World Poet Laureate Award (1995, by World Poetry Society).
May 2006 - The "Give Peace a Chance" Hotel Suite (Suite 1742), Fairmont The Queen Elizabeth Hotel, Montreal, Quebec (Canada). "John Lennon and Yoko Ono placed Suite 1742 in the international spotlight during their Bed-In in May 1969. The highlight of the world's most famous bed-in was John Lennon's composition of the song Give Peace A Chance which he wrote and recorded in the suite. To commemorate the 37th anniversary, the hotel is offering the Give Peace a Chance package."
May 2006 - "Plant Peace" Mural, Leahi Millennium Peace Garden, Diamond Head, Honolulu, Hawaii (USA). "Garden was created in 2000 by teens from around the globe to promote peace and cultural understanding and now stands as a symbol of solidarity and hope. In 2006 seniors from the Visual Arts Academy (VAA) of Oakland, California, partnered with Hawaiian youth to provide general garden maintenance and paint the mural, positive imagery representing peace and capturing the essence of ALOHA."
May 17-25, 2006 - Les Tentes de la Paix / Tents of Peace, Jerusalem (Israel). "Une vingtaine de tentes (et une toile de 160 mètres de longueur sur 70 mètres de largeur) imprimées du mot 'paix' calligraphié par l’artiste Clara Halter dans plus de 50 langues et 18 alphabets."
May 29, 2006 - Outdoor Adverstising campaign, Amnesty International (Switzerland). Using the tagline "It's not happening here but it's happening now" in various languages and transparent billboards. Aims to show people what is going on in the world, even if it's not happening in front of them at the bus stop. The ads portray issues in countries like Iraq, China, and Sudan." Amnesty International (AI), London (UK), received the 1977 Nobel Peace Prize.
May 31, 2006 - Portland Peace Memorial Park, just south of Steele Bridge, Portland, Oregon (USA). Surrounded by expressways. Dedicated on Memorial Day. "Orchestrated by the Oregon chapter of Veterans for Peace. ...thought to be the largest memorial to the idea of peace in America [sic!]." Or called Portland Memorial Peace Park?
June 2006 - Palace of Peace & Reconciliation, Astana (Kazakhstan). Also known as Palace of Peace & Accord. First used for Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions.
2006 - International Peace Garden, Coral Springs Museum of Art, Coral Springs, Florida (USA). Left image shows the Peter King "Gateway to Peace."
2006 - "John Rabe & International Safety Zone Memorial Hall," Nanjing University, Nanjing (China). Contains "John Rabe International Research & Exchange Center for Peace and Reconciliation." John Rabe [1882-1950], "the good Nazi," was a German businessman who is best known for his efforts to stop the atrocities of the Japanese army during the Nanking Massacre.
July 6, 2006 - Peace Marker Republic of Lebanon, Point of Peace #7, International Center of Human Studies, Byblos (Lebanon). One of eight Worldwide Peace Markers.
July 7, 2006 - First Mayors for Peace peace pillar , Ypres (Belgium). Marked the opening of the international 2020 Vision campaign secretariat in the Ypres City Hall. Inaugurated by the mayors of Hiroshima (Japan) & Ypres (Belgium).
August 6, 2006 - "Peace is a promise of future," Narvik (Norway). Sculpture of a sleeping child by Håkon Anton Fagerås. Design incorporates on a separate pedestal a rock from Hiroshima's ground zero given earlier to Narik by the mayor of Hiroshima. One of three peace sculptures in Narvik. Dedicated in 1956, 1995 and 2006. Narvik is known as a city of peace.
August 8, 2006 - Franz Jägerstätter Park, Braunau am Inn, Upper Austria (Austria). Franz Jägerstätter [1907-1943] was an Austrian conscientious objector sentenced to death and executed by Nazi Germany during World War II. The Roman Catholic Church beatified Jägerstätter on October 26, 2007, in Linz Cathedral (Austria). Park identified by Gerard Lössbroek (Pax Christi) who attended the opening ceremony.
August 26, 2006 - Women's Suffrage Memorial, Market Square, Knoxville, Tennessee (USA). Statues of three women from East, Middle, and West Tennessee by Nashville sculptor Alan LeQuire. On August 26, 1920, the Tennessee legislature ratified the 19th Amendment by a single vote, thus bringing suffrage to every adult woman in the USA after many years' sturggle by "suffragettes" such as the three leaders depicted by this memorial.
September 6, 2006 - Peace Garden for Charlene and Letisha, St. George's Centre, Birmingham (England). "Seventeen-year-old Letisha Shakespeare and 18-year-old Charlene Ellis were caught in the crossfire between rival gangs as they were enjoying a New Year's Party on Thursday, 2nd January 2003, in the Aston area of the city." Photo shows mosaic in the garden.
September 11, 2006 - World Peace Gong #2, Gandhi Smriti, Birla Bhavan / Birla House, New Delhi (India). 2nd permanent World Peace Gong. Dedicated by Gandhi's great grand-daughter Tara Gandhi Bhattacharjee on centennial of Gandhi's Satyagraha speech in the Empire Theater, Johannesburg (South Africa).
October 1, 2006 - Gandhi Statue, Indian Cultural Garden, Cleveland, Ohio (USA).
October 3, 2006 - World Peace Bell, Botanic Garden, Hagley Park, Christchurch (New Zealand). "Came about through the initiative of Christchurch resident Roy Sinclair who in 2004 made an epic 3,500 km bike ride the length of Japan." Click here to see Roy Sinclair at the WPB in Wakkanai in February 2001 [sic]. Right image courtesy of New Zealand Chapter, WPBA.
October 20, 2006 - "Spaceship Earth," Kennesaw State University, Georgia (USA). "A 175-ton quartzite & bronze sculpture made by a Finnish-born artist Eino. Questions abound over whether vandals destroyed the sculpture, or whether a combination of substandard adhesive & rain caused it to crumble in the middle of the night on December 29, 2006, in a collapse the campus police said they felt from their offices around the corner. Just three months old, the $1 million globe, made of 88 chunks of Brazilian quartzite adorned with raised bronze signifying land masses, lies disintegrated [right image] outside a new academic building praised for its eco-friendly attributes. A bronze statue of David Brower [1912-2000], a conservationist who was the first executive director of the Sierra Club, had stood atop the 15-foot globe and is now partly crushed. A steel time capsule intended to be opened in 3006 is exposed amid the rubble."
November 11, 2006 - Graves of the Bill of Rights [1791-2006], Habeas Corpus [1215-2006] & the Geneva Convention [1949-2006], Free Speech Park, Highland Park, Illinois (USA). Sponsored by the North Shore Women for Peace, a local Illinois organization that is 50 years strong in living their motto 'Working for peace, justice & a healthy planet.'"
