53 Peace Monuments Dedicated in 2014
Click here for peace monuments dedicated in 2013. Click here for peace monuments dedicated in 2015.Right click any image to enlarge.
January 2014 - Peace Monument, Paul Mboya-Sailor’s Close roundabout, Mosque Road, Kisumu (Kenya). 2.5 metres tall. A simple, equivocal figure bowed in prayer. On a podium in the middle of a water fountain. Commissioned by Siri Guru Singh Sabha temple. Sculpted by Oshoto Ondula from Kisumu...as a universal message of goodwill....Members of the Repentance & Holiness Ministry were uneasy. Their leader, Dr David Awuor, had prophesied the coming of a satanic idol & they believed this statue fit the profile. The fact that Sikhs are not ‘idol worshippers’ did not seem to matter. On February 8, 2014, only a few days after its installation, the Peace Monument was vandalised by a crowd of more than a hundred people. Its hands and head smashed by stones, the fountain ravaged and the podium demolished by those who imagined a treasure inside, the emblem was splintered. Those who heard the news noted the irony: using violence to take down a symbol of peace. Clearly, there were deeper issues. The statue was only a scapegoat but it worked to draw attention to the economic & educational discrepancies between the Asian & African communities in Kisumu..."
January 16, 2014 - Glendale, California (USA). "About a dozen Japanese politicians visited Glendale Thursday calling for the city to remove a monument that honors women taken from Korea, China, the Philippines & other countries to serve as sex slaves by the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II. The visit marked the third delegation of Japanese politicians who traveled to Glendale since the 1,100-pound statue was erected in Central Park in July... 'Are we angry? Yes,' said Setsuko Sakuraba, a city assemblywoman from Joetsu City, 'But I am more sad than angry because this statue is not supporting world peace.' Yoshiko Matsuura, a city assemblywoman from the Suginami Ward in Tokyo, said the delegation is concerned about the statue’s effect on Japan’s reputation, adding that the mature topics etched on the monument’s plaque are not appropriate for a public park where children visit. The delegation held a large sign in front of the statue that read: 'Children need heart-warming monuments' as they posed for pictures by the statue before a crowd of Japanese & Korean media."
January 24, 2014 - German Rail Car, Netanya Memorial Site, Netanya (Israel). At a memorial near Tel Aviv. The result of a search by Tatjana Ruge (Berlin) & Ronny Dotan (Tel Aviv) "surrounded by the assistance of world known experts from Israel & abroad (Dr. Gottwaldt and Dipl-Ing Diener from Germany) [for for a "Covered Freight Car G 10" constructed in Germany before May 1945]... After the Wagon (Munchen 12 2-46) was found in Germany [and] brought to Israel...we found some unbelievable finding engraved on the chassis of the Wagon next to the door wheel. After more deep searches we identified other symbols in two different places. It comes in a total number of three Stars of David embedded in the chassis in different places, by using a chisel by no doubt a professionally Jewish locksmith worker. This finding is of global and unique importance, since as far as we know never found before on any other wagons. Visitors passing by those authentic signs are deeply moved looking at them, as a souvenir made some 70 years ago. Apparently the markings were sunk by a Jewish locksmith during forced labor and his souvenir remains forever as a sign for eternal memory." Information courtesy of Tatjana Ruge.
February 11, 2014 - Peace Table #3 for Asia, Hall of Peace, Unity Pavilion, International Zone, Auroville, Tamil Nadu (India). By Japanese-American craftsman George Nakashima [1905-1990] of New Hope, Pennsylvania (USA). The Auroville community sprang from the Sri Aurobindo Ashram in Pondicherry, where George Nakashima was once a disciple. Dedication delayed from 1996.
March 3, 2014 - Monumento ao Nunca Mais / Monument to Never Again, Rua da Aurora, Recife, Pernambuco State (Brazil). "Monument in memory against dictatorship... A symbol of Brazilian memory about the 1964 coup. Depicts the sun as the certainty of a new day where, according to local people, the sun rises first in Recife. The name "Nunca Mais / Never Again" is the wish that the criminal acts committed in the dictatorial regime [1964-1985] never be repeated in history. This was the fourth of 16 monuments to be inaugurated this year in several Brazilian cities by the Marks Memory Project, the Amnesty Commission, in partnership with the Alice Institute. There were already monuments inaugurated in Belo Horizonte, Curitiba & Ipatinga..." [Google translation] SUN
March 21, 2014 - "Discover Peace in Europe" (Peace Trails), Konfliktkultur - Discoverpeace, Breitenfeldergasse 2/14, Vienna 1080 (Austria). Seven trails in Berlin (Germany), Budapest (Hungary), Manchester (England), Paris (France), The Hague (Netherlands), Torino (Italy) & Vienna (Austria). Image shows map of Vienna (Austria), just one of the seven trails. Information courtesy of Gerard Lössbroek & Peter van den Dungen 11March2014.
April 13, 2014 - River of Peace Mural, Ghost Ranch Education & Retreat Center, Abiquiu, New Mexico (USA). "A 35 foot ceramic tile mural on the East outside wall of the Lower Pavilion. Faces the Peace Garden [& peace pole]. The mural shape echoes the Fibonacci curves contained in the layout of the Peace Garden. Clay slips in natural hues on the tiles relate to the colors of the rocks, sky & earth at Ghost Ranch. Permanently fired into the surface, a visual river of spiritual symbols from around the world is integrated into a mosaic of hand-written poems, prayers, intentions, quotes & original writings. /// Because of widespread interest in the mural & the participation of the community, Barbara Campbell & Judy Nelson-Moore decided to create 6-inch tiles using the methods & imagery from the River of Peace Mural. This is a way for people to have a 'piece of the Peace Mural' to take home. These tiles are all unique & made by hand. They provide a lovely remembrance of the mural & Ghost Ranch. Tiles are $18 & are available in the gift shop at the Ghost Ranch Welcome Center." NM POLES GARDENS WALLS FOR_SALE
May 2, 2014 - Kinmen Peace Bell, University of Scranton, Scranton, Pennsylvania (USA). "Gift from the government of Taiwan. Scranton is the only institution of higher education in the world to receive such a gift. Symbolizes Chinese characteristics such as peace & freedom. Engraved with the word 'peace' in more than 100 languages... The original bell was dedicated in 2011 in a ceremony on Taiwan’s Kinmen Island (Quemoy) to mark the 53rd anniversary of the 823 Artillery Bombardment. Kinmen was the site of an intense 44-day battle in 1958, during which China’s People’s Liberation Army fired more than 450,000 artillery shells upon it, killing 2,600 people. The original bell is cast from copper and metal from artillery shells from this battle."
May 21, 2014 - National September 11 Museum, New York City, New York (USA). "Cost: $700 million... operating budget: $60 million a year... admission: $24. The opening [was] characterized by both reverence (President Obama called the museum a 'sacred place of healing & hope') and controversy (over the gift shop, and especially its Darkness Hoodie ($39) & its United-States-shaped cheese platter with hearts marking 9/11 death sites (price unavailable), as well as serious censorship (no charge) and the CEO’s salary ($378,000)). /// A “Museum Review” in The New York Times pondered the museum’s “trifurcated identity:” "Was it going to be primarily a historical document, a monument to the dead or a theme-park-style tourist attraction? How many historical museums are built around an active repository of human remains, still being added to? How many cemeteries have a $24 entrance fee and sell souvenir T-shirts? How many theme parks bring you, repeatedly, to tears? Because that’s what the museum does. The first thing to say about it, and maybe the last, is that it’s emotionally overwhelming…."
Sunday, May 25, 2014 - Pope at Separation Wall, Bethlehem, West Bank (Pasentine). "Pope Francis stunned the world by instructing his driver to pause by the [Bethlehem side of the Israeli separation] wall, perhaps drawn by the spray-painted plea, "Pope, we need someone to talk about justice." The words had been written only moments before. One day earlier, young Palestinians had also covered the gray behemoth with messages to the Pope, only to find the wall painted over just hours later. Until the moment the Pope arrived, it seemed that Palestinian voices were once again to be silenced. Through their will and perseverance, these Palestinians refused to be silenced. And Pope Francis, breaking with the pattern of other world leaders, chose not to ignore their voices, but to amplify them." /// Pope Francis instantaneously made a peace monument out of the painted words. I wonder how long they will last?
May 26, 2014 - “Swords to Plowshares” memorial, Raleigh, North Carolina (USA). Also called "a mobile Armistice Bell Tower & 'Swords to Plowshares' Peoples History Exhibit." /// "...a 24-foot tower made of recycled metal, a rolling hat-tip to all victims of war... It stands temporarily alongside the N.C. State University Memorial Belltower, manned 24 hours a day. Roger Ehrlich & [the] Veterans for Peace, hope visitors will remember that this year marks the 100th anniversary of the start of World War I, the 'war to end all wars.' It killed 16 million people, introducing the world to chemical warfare, flamethrowers & tanks. The Wolfpack Belltower itself was built [in 1937] to honor those veterans, and this dedication appears on its side: 'In memory of those who served their country in the world war.' On the tower’s door, it reads, 'and they shall beat their swords into plowshares...' The [mobile] monument will travel to the Veterans for Peace convention in Asheville in July 2014." /// Includes bell forged with the date 1886 in Hillsboro, Ohio, & discovered at the construction site of the Church of Reconciliation in Chapel Hill, NC. /// Information courtesy of Roger Ehrlich, Cary, NC.
May 30, 2014 - Comfort Women Memorial Peace Garden, Fairfax County Government Center, Fairfax, Virginia (USA). Near Washington, DC. "Showcases the emerging voice and influence of Korean Americans in Northern Virginia, who want the story told. But the memorial is sparking protests from the Japanese Embassy & activists in Japan, a reaction reminiscent of the embassy’s response to legislation requiring that the Sea of Japan also be identified as the East Sea in Virginia public school textbooks." /// Inscription: "In honor of the women and girls whose basic rights and dignities were taken from them as victims of human taficking during WWII. Over 200,000 women and girls from Korea, China, Taiwan, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, the Netherlands and East Timor were enforced into sexual slavery and euphemistically called 'Comfort Women' by Imperial Japanese forces during WWII. We honor their pain and suffering and mourn the loss of their fundmental human rights. May these comfort women'Comfort Women' find eternal peace and justice for the crimes committed against them. May the memories of these women and girls serve as a reminder of the importance of protecting the rights of women and an affirmation of basic human rights. Washington Coalition for Comfort Women Issues, Inc."
May 31, 2014 - Rotary Peace Monument, Jubilee Library, Philipsburg, Sint Maarten (Netherlands). Inscribed "The Rotary Peace Monument was created by the Rotary Clubs on St. Maarten / Saint-Martin...as a commitment to promote world peace, empower our citizens to overcome violence and injustice, and bring peace, dignity and prosperity to our community." Information courtesy of Angela Letetia Gordon, President 2013-2014, Rotary Club of St. Martin Sunrise.
June 2, 2014 - Ohio Holocaust & Liberators Memorial, Statehouse Grounds, Capitol Square, Columbus, Ohio (USA). Unveiled by Governor John Kasich & architect Daniel Libeskind. "Visitors enter a sloped platform of smooth reddish-grey granite that leads to the monument. The pathway is flanked by benches & a descending wall of Columbus limestone. The top of the wall is inscribed with the words [from the Talmud], "If you save one life, it is as if you saved the world..." Below is a quote by Auschwitz survivor [sic] Avner Shalev [chairman of the Yad Vashem Directorate in Israel] that reads: "Every human being who chooses to remember this chapter of history and to infuse it with meaning is thereby choosing to struggle for the preservation of the bedrock moral values that alone make possible the existence of a well-ordered society. This is a commitment to uphold human rights, above all, freedom and the sanctity of life, and the opportunity for people to live side by side in harmony."
May 24, 2014 - Martin Luther King Statue, MacGregor Park, Houston, Texas (USA). "Thirty years ago a group of Black activists planted tree to mark the place, on a median on MLK Boulevard, where they wanted to install a statue of Martin Luther King. In 2012 the tree had to be removed when Metro, Houston's transit authority, began construction on its light rail line. The director of the Black Heritage Society chained himself to the tree in protest, saying 'The first train may run over my dead body.' Known as the Tree of Life, it was eventually relocated to , and Metro paid $750,000 to create a memorial plaza near the tree. On one path that leads to the statue are quotes from King's 'I have a Dream' speech & the 'Letter from Birmingham Jail.' On the intersection path is inlaid a chronology of his life. It was dedicated in 2014. /// Information courtesy of Susan Ives.
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MJune 23, 2014 - Center for Civil & Human Rights, 100 Ivan Allen Jr. Boulevard, Atlanta, Georgia (USA). "...connects the American Civil Rights Movement to today's Global Human Rights Movements... The Center was first imagined by civil rights legends Evelyn Lowery & former United Nations Ambassador Andrew Young & was launched by former Mayor Shirley Franklin."
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2014 - Halabje Statue, Garden of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), The Hague (Netherlands) /// This is "Monday's Monument" #7.
August 4, 2014 - Comfort Women Monument, Liberty Plaza, Union City, New Jersey (USA). Near New York City. "Two 'comfort women' survivors flew in from Korea to join Union City Mayor Brian P. Stack, Board of Commissioners & Korean American Civic Empowerment for a dedication ceremony featuring the unveiling of a "Comfort Women" monument in Liberty Plaza." Inscription: "In memory of thousands of women and girls from Korea, China, Taiwan, the Philippines, the Netherlands, and Indonesia, who were forced into sexual slavery by the armed forces of Imperial Japan before and during World War II."
Date? 2014 - Memorial plaque, near the People's Palace, Glasgow Green, Glasgow (Scotland). Inscription: "In memory of those who opposed World War One in order to challenge the purpose of the war and the waste of lives. /// They also campaigned for social and economic justice and against the exploitation of those who lived in the city [of Glasgow] during the war." ("During World War I, the anti-war movement held mass demonstrations on the Green. In September 1914, John Maclean held his first anti-war rally under [Admiral Horatio] Nelson's monument [43.5 metres tall, erected in 1806]. The Military Service Act of 1916, led to a rally on the Green, which resulted in 12 months imprisonment for the three lead speakers under the DORA. On 29 June 1916, David Lloyd George was invited to receive the freedom of the city, which led to mass protests on the Green. In May 1917, workers marched through Glasgow to the Green in support of Russia's February Revolution. Another result of World War I, was increased migration to the city of munitions workers. The resulting rent increases led to protests on the Green in 1920.") Information courtesy of Peter van den Dungen.
August 16, 2014 - Peace Bell, Fredsmonument / Peace Monument, Morokulien, between Magnor (Norway) and Eda (Sweden). /// In the Minister grove. Dedicated on 100th anniversary of Morokulien with invited guests from South Korea. The Minister grove itself was founded in 2004, on the 90th anniversary. "Summer 1814 was our two countries for the last time at war with each other, maintained parliamentary president Olemic Thommessen in his speech. He pointed out that Norway retained a liberal Norwegian constitution and the best conditions to develop the Norwegian democracy and Norwegian society within the new union with Sweden. The Scandinavian peace period began thus with a war. But also with political prudence and willingness to compromise from leaders on both sides... On Saturday event undertook also the presentation of peace watches that will link together with Norway, Sweden and Korea. Peace bells are located in Oslo (Voksenåsen), peace center in Morokulien & World Peace Bell Park in Hwacheon in South Korea." (Google translation). Information courtesy of Nigel Young & Peter van den Dungen.
August 16, 2014 - Comfort Women Peace Statue, Korean American Cultural Center, Southfield, Michigan (USA). Honors the comfort women. "Planning for the Southfield statue started in 2011. Fundraising & finding a location took two & a half years. Initially, the statue was to be installed in a public library in the city before protests arose from Denso Corporation, a Japanese auto parts manufacturer in the area, and the Japanese Consulate General, which said it would encourage division in the area."
Sepember 2, 2014 - Jewish Refugee Memorial Wall, Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum, Tilanqiao, Shanghai (China). "Acknowledges the 13,732 people who fled Europe to escape persecution by the Nazis during World War II. A statue of six Jewish people standing beside a 37-meter-long, 2.5-meter-high copper wall, on which has been etched the names of all the Jewish people known to have taken shelter in Shanghai. The statue symbolizes the 6 million Jews killed in the Holocaust, its creator, Chinese-American artist He Ning, told a press conference... He said he got the idea for a name wall in 2002, when he & Chen Jian, who is now the curator of the museum, heard that a planned meeting of Shanghai Jewish refugees in San Francisco had to be canceled as most of them had died. 'I was very sad,' He said. 'It seemed wrong that history was dying out with the people.' It was not until the refugees museum opened in 2007 - on the former site of the Ohel Moshe Synagogue - that the two men began making plans for a permanent memorial..."
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September 20, 2014. - Canadian Museum for Human Rights (CMHR), Winnipeg, Manitoba (Canada). "First national museum outside of the Canadian Capital." /// "Following the experiences of Bilbao and Valencia, this Canadian city hopes to draw tourists to an architecturally significant project." Designed by American architect Antoine Predock. "Perhaps the most transformational project before our nation today. As the largest centre of its kind anywhere, it has the potential to be one of Canada’s most significant contributions to promoting human rights here and around the world."
September 27, 2014 - Slavery Memorial, Front Green, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island (USA). "Granite and ductile cast iron. Recognizes Brown University’s connection to the trans-Atlantic slave trade and the work of Africans and African-Americans, enslaved and free, who helped build our university, Rhode Island, and the nation."
October 3, 2014 - "Let There Be Peace," Creative Arts Building, University of Huddersfield, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire (England). Poem by Lemn Sissay [b. 1967], "award-wining British author of Ethiopian origin & Chancellor at the University of Manchester... Inside the University of Manchester, his poem 'Let There be Peace' stands high on the walls at University Place on Oxford Road..." /// Click here for text of the poem. /// Information courtesy of Peter van den Dungen.
October 8, 2014 - Broken Chair, Square of Nations, Geneva (Switzerland). From TASS: "A European art group has selected a very unusual way to send birthday greetings to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is 62 today. A group of Geneva peace activists made a three-metre tall statue of the Russian leader & used it to prop up the world-famous anti-war monument known as the Broken Chair... Putin was the one who helped negotiate the recent ceasefire in the southeast of Ukraine, warded off the looming threat of war between Armenia and Azerbaijan by bringing their presidents to the negotiating table and also saved Syria from external military aggression."
October 24, 2014 - "Seeker of Truth" Mural, 1430 West 18th Street, Pilsen neighborhood, Chicago, Illinois (USA). Across the street from Foley's favorite hangout -- the Café Jumping Bean. Mural rapidly painted by ten friends who worked in shifts around the clock after death in Syria of journalist James Wright Foley [1973-2014] who was abducted during the Syrian Civil War & beheaded by the Islamic State of Iraq & Syria (ISIS). Inscribed on the mural is the poem Bani Adam by Persian poet Saadi Shirazi [1210-1292] in Arabic, English & Spanish, languages of the three cultures that helped to inform Foley & shape his life & times. See Steven Sotloff [1983-2014].
October 28, 2014 - Museum of History of Polish Jews, Warsaw (Poland). On site of the former Warsaw Ghetto. Cornerstone laid in 2007, first opened on April 19, 2013, opened to public in October 2014. Features a multimedia narrative exhibition about the vibrant Jewish community that flourished in Poland for a thousand years. Information courtesy of Ambassador Victor Ashe.
November 6, 2014 - "Perceiving Freedom," Sea Point Promenade, Cape Town (South Africa). "Cape Town unveiled a new memorial for Nelson Mandela late last week, a welcomed gesture in a city still closely associated with South Africa's Apartheid era. Sadly, the city's canonization effort has left many disappointed. Mandela was a man of great substance; this latest memorial is anything but. To honor the late South African president, local artist Michael Elion built a giant pair of stainless steel Ray-Ban Wayfarer sunglasses. The enormous pair of chic sunglasses are angled to peer over the Atlantic Ocean towards Robben Island, where Mandela served his nearly three-decade prison term. Titled Perceiving Freedom, Elion's project aimed to connect memorial visitors with Mandela's prison experience. '[I]t links us to the mind of a man whose incredible capacity to transcend enduring physical hardship, with unwavering mental fortitude and dignity, transformed the consciousness of an entire country,' he explained to a local newspaper. (Mandela was known for occasionally sporting a pair of aviator-style sunglasses, but not Ray-Ban-style shades. Elion included this photo in the invitation to the memorial's opening.) I'm not buying it, and neither are many South Africans."
November 7, 2014 - Peace Pavilion, Cootamundra, New South Wales (Australia). "Celebrates the Declaration by the Mayor, Councilor Jim Slattery, that the Shire of Cootamundra is a Rotary Peace Community... The major grant came from The NSW Government Community Building Program & also Rotary District 9700, Australian Government Saluting their Service Commemorations Program, Soroptimist International Cootamundra & the former Cootamundra Apex Club... The new Governor of NSW General David Hurley will visit Cootamundra to open the Rotary Peace Pavilion on November 7. The Governor will also unveil two plaques which will be on plinths at the ends of the stone seat."
December 12, 2014 - Bust of Moses White, Historical Monument Trail, Tampa, Florida (USA). One of six busts added to the trail along Tampa's Riverwalk in 2014. Unveiled beside the Tampa Convention Center & joined 12 other busts already in place on the 2.5-mile Riverwalk connecting downtown to Tampa Heights. Restaurant owner Moses White [1915-1984] was known as 'Mayor of Central Avenue,' Tampa's African-American community. He was also known for feeding those less fortunate. In the 1960's, White was among those who helped bridge a racial divide in the city.
December 15, 2014 - Monument for Fallen Jewish-Iranian Soldiers, Tehran (Iran). "A a senior Iranian parliament member praised the Iranian Jewish community’s ties to the state & its 'obedience' to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei & Ruhollah Khomeini before him... Iran, a home for Jews for more than 3,000 years, has the Middle East’s largest Jewish population outside of Israel, an estimated 20,000."
Click here for peace monuments dedicated in 2013. Click here for peace monuments dedicated in 2015.
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