38 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.
2006 - Casa per la Pace / House of Peace "La Filanda," Via Canonici Renani 8, Casalecchio di Reno, near Bologna (Italy). "Housed in the renovated building of the old Spinning Mill of Reno (La Filanda). Aimed at promoting cultural & raising awareness on the themes of peace, nonviolence, human rights, intercultural, social solidarity & of ethical & solidarity economy. Hosts: (1) Documentation Centre on issues of peace & solidarity, with books, documents & audiovisual materials. (2) A Space Fair-trade at that sell fair trade products & is an active GAS - Solidarity Group Purchase. (3) Archives of the Manifesto Pacifist International, with over 3,000 [peace] posters of the past 50 years represents the largest collection of its kind in the world (collected by Vittorio Pallotti). (4) The Market Solidarity run by the Time Bank for purposes of self-financing. [Google translation]"
2006 - Peace Garden, Charlton House, Charlton Road, London (England). "Just south of Greenwich. A walled garden opened as a 'Peace Garden' in support of two major programs supported by Amnesty International – the campaign to stop violence against women & to control arms. Has a central sculpture & offers a quiet place for contemplation. Designed by Andrew Fisher-Tomlin. Contains a sculpture by Margaret Higginson, titled 'Portage' & a Japanese Peace pole donated from an artist in Tokyo. Portage statue [depicts] a woman carrying a boat above her head, and is designed to portray the strength & spirit of women worldwide as it portrays how indigenous women travelled between the lakes of Canada. The peace pole has the quote 'May Peace Prevail on Earth' in both English & Japanese." /// FYI: This "house was built between 1607 & 1612 for Sir Adam Newton, Dean of Durham & tutor to Prince Henry Frederick Stuart, heir to the throne, and son of King James I (VI in Scotland)." /// Info courtesy of Peter van den Dungen.
2006 -- Vandalized January 2007 - Peace & Memorial Garden, Central Park, London Borough of Barking & Dagenham, Essex (England). "The designs are based on the themes of Persecution, Despair & Hope. The Garden, Gates and Seats have been designed by artist/designer Anuradha Patel in collaboration with London Borough of Barking & Dagenham design team. Colour, as a universal visual language, is a very important aspect of the designs, ranging from purple to yellow. This colour scheme conveys a passionate range of emotions from that of despair and pain to that of optimism & hope." /// "A memorial garden to remember victims of oppression, torture & brutality was defaced as the country marked Holocaust Memorial Day. Borough dignitaries expressed dismay & disgust after learning the peace & memorial garden near Dagenham Civic Centre had been sprayed with graffiti. Deputy Mayor Cllr Marie West, who opened the garden last year when she was Mayor, said: 'I’m so distressed that anyone could even contemplate doing such a thing. I can’t understand the mentality. I’m very upset.'"
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 11, 2006 - Grief Tear Memorial, Bayonne, New Jersey (USA). "...opened to the anthems of Russia and the USA. On the bank of the Hudson River [facing the Statue of Liberty & Lower Manhattan], is a split 30-meter bronze plate with a giant tear made of titanium. The names of almost 3 thousand people killed on September, 11, 2001, are engraved on the monument. ...gift of Russian people, so sculptor Zurab Tsereteli who also and his colleagues took all the expenses on its erection up [sic]." Tsereteli also sculpted the statue of "Good Defeats Evil" (qv) at UN headquarters in 1990.
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 2006 - Statue of Walter Reuther, Oglebay Park, Wheeling, West Virginia (USA). On Ohio River. Born in Wheeling, Walter Reuther [1907-1970] was "an American labor union leader, who made the United Automobile Workers a major force not only in the auto industry but also in the Democratic Party in the mid 20th century." He was a socialist in the early 1930s and became a leading liberal and supporter of the New Deal coalition.. "The larger-than-life statue, commissioned by the UAW, was sculpted by Zanesville, Ohio, artist Alan Cottrill. It features Reuther in shirtsleeves, gesturing as if speaking to a crowd."
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MFall 2006 - Visitors Center, Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site, Little Rock, Arkansas (USA). Establised by Congress on November 6, 1998. Administered in partnership of National Park Service, Little Rock Public Schools, the City of Little Rock & others. Diagonally across the street from the high school & across from the "Transcendence," the memorial dedicated by Michael Warrick (upper right). Contains exhibits on the Little Rock integration crisis in September 1957 (qv) & the larger context of desegregation during the 20th century & the Civil Rights Movement. Opposite the Visitor Center is (1) the Central High Commemorative Garden (lower left), which features nine trees & benches that honor the 'Little Rock Nine,' and (2) a historic Mobil gas station (lower right), which has been preserved in its appearance at the time of the crisis. At the time, it served as the area for the press & radio & TV reporters. It later served as a temporary Visitor Center before the new one was built."
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.'"
