Click here for peace monuments dedicated in 2014.
Right click any image to enlarge.
 
|   January 27, 2015 - Peace Garden, Abbey Gardens, Bury St. Edmunds, West Suffolk (England). "Features a new one & a half metre tall teardrop sculpture unveiled on Holocaust Memorial Day. The Memorial Garden Trust raised more than £11,000 for the project. Rob Lock, of the trust, said: 'In addition to providing a more dignified setting for the annual holocaust service the Peace Garden is also designed to commemorate the murder of 57 Jews in our town on Palm Sunday, 19 March 1190. It is an event in our town’s history that the trust felt needed to be publicly acknowledged. The teardrop is a natural & universal symbol of pity & persecution, of human suffering & sorrow. It is made from polished stainless steel; its mirrored surface reflects back to us the role we all must play in opposing humanity’s inhumanity.' The Peace Garden, which is being installed by Urban Forestry, includes 57 cobble stones - one for each of the victims of the 1190 massacre. The trust was formed by local residents & supported by the borough council, St Edmundsbury Cathedral & members of Suffolk’s Jewish community." /// Plaque inscribed: "This garden is the venue for the annual holocaust memorial day service held each year on 27th January for all victims of genocide. It also commemorates the massacre of 57 Jewish reidents near to this place on Palm Sunday 19th March 1190." /// Info courtesy of Peter van den Dungen.
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 |   Early February 2015 - Peace Pole, Walnut Park, Petaluma, Sonoma County, California (USA). "A portion of the $150,000 Walnut Park renovation project that is focused on bringing a vision of worldwide peace to Petaluma has been anything but peaceful after several members of the Petaluma Service Club Alliance voiced objections this week about a recommendation adopted last August by the city’s Recreation, Music & Parks Commission.
A three-sided granite & steel Peace Pole was installed early last month with only a single expression of 'Peace' spelled out in English. Steel plaques with peace spelled out in several other languages were initially tooled & had been awaiting installation. But that came to a halt just over a year ago after two commissioners questioned the choice of languages used on the pole, as well as the way that the languages would be displayed."
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|   March 14, 2015 - Statue of Mahatma Gandhi, Parliament Square, London (England). "Prime Minister & Indian finance minister Arun Jaitley were joined by Gandhi's grandson, the former governor of West Bengal, Shri Gopalkrishna Gandhi, & actor Amitabh Bachchan in a ceremony to unveil the sculpture.
The Prime Minister said that many of Gandhi's teachings 'remain as potent today as when he first made them...'
The sculpture was created by Philip Jackson, inspired by a 1931 photo of Gandhi at No. 10 Downing Street, where he met the then prime minister Ramsay MacDonald... Mr Jackson is known for statues of the Queen Mother & the Bomber Command memorial. GANDHI STATUE LONDON
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 |  March 15, 2015 - Peace Icon, Peace Square, Sharm El-Sheikh (Egypt).
"The height of the icon about 34.5 meters, 26.5 meters height height net, and display the wings 24 meters, flanked Baloiconh Fountain 35 meters in diameter, with about 47 water nozzle out of different heights reaches a height of 16 meters in a spiral,Peace icon is a memorial Peace Park mediates amounting to 36 thousand square meters at the entrance of Sharm el-Sheikh International Airport & the Dahab & the ring road to the city of Sharm El Sheikh. Icon is designed in the form of clusters of black granite bearing the lotus leaf topped eight inspired by the wings of the wings of [Egyptian sun god] Ra carry globe diameter of 10 meters on the world map of stainless steel, the specific location of Egypt in gold & fly above the bathroom that holds an olive branch symbol of peace, & suggests eight wings to the main directions, north & south, east & west-east & north-west & north-east & south-west & the south. It was taking into account the work of the restaurant parking adorned the entrance to the courtyard in front of the icon is surrounded by palm trees & designed light-curve directs visitors to the walkway around the fountain. Icon established and designed in the hands of an Egyptian symbol of peace was registered in the Guinness Book of Records as the largest & longest metal work of art in the world" [sic]. /// "Sharm el-Sheikh is sometimes called the 'City of Peace,' referring to the large number of international peace conferences that have been held there."
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|  March 25, 2015 - "The Ark of Return / L'Arc de Retour," United Nations Headquarters, New York City, New York (USA). "Constructed completely from white marble. Resembles a ship -- a reference to the cramped, inhumane slaving vessels that transported African people as human commodities between continents. Inside the gargantuan structure lies a prone figure draped in white. Underneath, the words “Consider the legacy” are etched in the marble. On the outside are sketches that include maps of the triangular slave trade, slave ships & diagrams of the inside of the ships used to carry slaves."
Designed by Haitian-American arthitect Rodney Leon. Dedicated "À l’occasion de la Journée internationale de commémoration des victimes de l’esclavage et de la traite transatlantique des esclaves" by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon & General Assembly President Sam Kutesa.
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E |  March 29, 2015 - Peace Monument, Red Wing Park, Virginia Beach, Virginia (USA). "Commemorates the 50th Anniversary of USA DNBK Bushin Kan Dojo, established by Dr. Hiroyuki Tesshin Hamada, emeritus faculty of Old Dominion University, & Miyazaki City, Japan, Sister City Representative [sic]." /// Dedicated during 10th annual cherry blossom festival "celebrating sister city Miyazaki (Japan) [and] more than 150 Yoshino Cherry Blossom trees that were donated & planted in 2005. The Peace Monument is constructed of a nine-feet high, 30,000-pound boulder extracted out of the deep mountains of Tennessee. It symbolizes the spiritual serenity of nature, world peace, harmony & prosperity.
Virginia Beach & Miyazaki have been sister cities since the late 1980’s." /// Click here for Dai Nippon Butoku Kai (DNBK) web page about same monument.  STONE SISTER_CITY VIRGINIA
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T | April 6, 2015 - Statue of Edward Snowden, Fort Green Park, Brooklyn, New York (USA). Called "Prison Ship Martyrs' Monument 2.0" by its creators...an ephemeral, illegally-installed public statue of Edward Snowden, an American whistleblower who leaked classified information from the National Security Agency (NSA) & was charged with federal crimes as a result... attached to a Doric column." Police seized the sculpture the same day. "The city returned the sculpture on May 6, 2015, assessing artists as Andrew Tider & Jeff Greenspan a $50 fine [each] for non-criminal trespassing...
The undamaged bust had its first post-police custody exhibition from May 8–17 at The Boiler in Brooklyn."
(The sculpture was original erected on the perimeter of the park's Prison Ship Martyrs' Monument, a memorial & crypt which honors & inters the more than 11,500 American prisoners of war who died in the American Revolution while housed on British prison ships.)
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 | April 23, 2015 - Armenian Genocide Monument, south of the Satellite Student Union, Fresno State University, Fresno, California (USA). "Designed by Fresno architect Paul Halajian. Embodies symbols of cultural meaning to the Armenian people. Its principal components, a series of pillars, are arranged in a circular pattern & angled inwards, reminiscent of Tzitzernagapert / Armenian Martyrs Monument in Yerevan (Armenia). Built from béton brut and Tufa stones, the nine pillars represent the six provinces of historic Western Armenia—Van, Bitlis, Dikranagerd, Kharpert, Sepastia, and Erzerum—Cilicia, the Diaspora, and the Republic of Armenia. They gradually descend in height around the circle, with the first measuring 19 feet high and the last 15 feet to underscore the significance of the year 1915. An incomplete halo will be set above on top of the pillars, symbolizing both the fracture left by the Genocide & the unity of the Armenian people. /// The unveiling ceremony is organized by the Armenian Genocide Centennial—Fresno Committee, an association of local organizations that is promoting a series of centennial events in the Central Valley." 
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 |  Monday, May 4, 2015 - "Monday's Monument" #1 = Wall of Peace, Paris (France). First peace monument selected & posted by SAPC webmaster Susan Ives, San Antonio Peace Center (SAPC), San Antonio, Texas (USA), in a continuous weekly series started on Monday, May 4, 2015. NB: "Monday's Monuments" are displayed on individual web pages & are thus difficult to visit in serial order. Ms. Ives & the SAPC offer no comprehensive guide to this impressive colleciton (so far as I can tell). Click here for more about Ms. Ives.
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|  May 25, 2015 - Abadanchylyk Monument, betweeen Archabil & Chandybil Avenues, Ashgabat (Turkmenistan). "Symbolizes prosperity & peace that reign on the Turkmen land. Consists of five segments 47 metres high. Crowned with a symbolic construction of the globe with the image of five white doves with wings spread & olive branches under them. The pillars of the monument are connected in its upper part with a ring decorated with a national pattern that symbolizes unity. The idea of unity & cohesion of all five regions of Turkmenistan is also reflected in the decor of each pillar that is decorated in ornamental traditions peculiar to each region in the country.
" /// "On 25 May the grand openings of several monuments including “Arkadag”, “Abadanchylyk”, “Iyldyz”, “Ylym”, “Ak bugdai” and “Sagdynlyk” are scheduled to be held in Ashgabat. The funds to build these rather expensive 'decorations of the capital' were collected from employed residents & businesses." DOVES GLOBES FOUNTAINS TURKMENISTAN
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|  May 25, 2015 - "Declaration of World Peace" Monument, Freedom Park, Pretoria (South Africa).  SOUTH_AFRICA SOUTH_KOREA MAPS
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|  May 25, 2015 - Maguindanao Peace Monument, Buluan, Maguindanao (Philippines). Photo shows Maguindanao officials led by Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu & Korean peace advocates unveiling the monument. PHILLIPINES SOUTH_KOREA DOVES 2015
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|  June 29, 2015 - Holocaust Memorial, Kysylyn, Volyn Oblast (Ukraine). Similar memorials dedicated at same time in Rava-Ruska, Ostrozhets, Prokhid & Bakhiv. "The memorial project builds on the landmark work of French Catholic priest (& Georgetown University adjunct professor) Patrick Desbois, whose organization, Yahad - in Unum / Together - In One, has found more than 1,600 Jewish mass graves in Ukraine, Belarus, Russia, Poland, Romania, Moldova & Lithuania & interviewed over 4,000 witnesses to the Holocaust." /// Upper image shows Ludvika Sarah Leah Schein, "a survivor of the Holocaust in Rava-Ruska [who] traveled from San Francisco to attend the dedication." Lower image is "a panoramic view of [the] memorial dedication ceremony in a cornfield in Kysylyn. The mass grave contains the remains of 900 Jews killed by German occupiers between 1941 & 1944." Both images are Religion News Service photos by Michael Scaturro. GRAVES UKRAINE HOLOCAUST 2015
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| 2015 - Comfort Woman Statue, Gwangju (South Korea). "Set up in front of Gwangju City Hall.
It was announced on June 21 [2017] that five districts in Gwangju will set up [their own] comfort women statues [see August 14-15, 2017, below], not the seated version across from the Japanese embassy in Seoul, by Aug. 14 [2017]... Aug. 14 was designated International Comfort Women Day because it is the day that Kim Hak-sun became the first former comfort woman to publicly testify about her experiences in 1991."
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 |  1979 - Improved in 2015 - Peace Rock, Cowles Commons, Third & Locust Streets, Des Moines, Iowa (USA). Part of "Peace Garden" in 1980. Survived transition from Nollen Plaza to Cowles Commons in 2015. Inscribed "A Vision of Peace...May all who experience this garden be more loving, merciful and sharing." Benches with these 10 peace quotations were added in 2015:
Helen Keller: “I do not want the peace that passeth understanding, I want the understanding which bringeth peace.”
John Lennon: “All we are saying is give peace a chance.”
Dorothy Day: “No one has a right to sit down and feel helpless, there’s too much to do.”
Chief Seattle: “Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it, whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect.”
Martin Luther King, Jr.: “True peace is not merely the absence of tension, it is the presence of justice.”
Mother Theresa “If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.”
Albert Einstein: “Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding.”
Walt Whitman: “Peace is always beautiful.”
Marlia (eighth grade): “If I could have three wishes, world peace would be all three.”
Mahatma Gandhi: “Be the change you wish to see in the world.”
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|  July 10, 2015 - Confederate Battle Flag , State House, Columbia, South Carolina (USA). Permanentlhy removed from capitol grounds following murder of nine Blacks at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, SC, on June 17, 2015. /// Followed, later in 2015, by decision of the city of New Orleans, Louisiana, to remove three Confederate monuments.
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 July 2015 -
Hito Tres Fronteras / Three Frontiers Monument, Tres Fronteras Avenue, Puerto Iguazu, Misiones (Argentina). A shiny metal fountain surrounded by modern benches. Second image shows Schera Chadwick at one of several pillars which are inscribed "3 nations, 3 identities, 3 cultures, 3 frontiers" & speak about regional features in 3 languages (Spanish, Portuguese & English). Third image is view from the monument showing Brazil at right across the Iguazu River & Paraguay at left across the Paraná River. The Espaço das Américas / Space of the Americas conference center, is seen on the Brazilian bank in Foz do Iguacu, Parana State; it was constructed in 1997 & is now virtually abandoned. Iguazu Falls are just upstream to the right. /// Photos by EWL October 2015.
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Date?-2015 - Hito Tres Fronteras / Three Frontiers Monument, Tres Fronteras Avenue, Puerto Iguazu, Misiones (Argentina). Year of construction unknown. Replaced in 2015 by the new monument.
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| 1901, 1921 & 1914 - Obilisks in Argentina, Paraguay & Brazil on their respectives sides of the confluence of the Paraná & Iguazú Rivers. Each obilisk is painted in its national colors & is visible from the other two obilisks. The new 2015 monument is alongside the obilisk in Argentina. Dates courtesy of guide Marcela A. Elia.
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|  July 18, 2015 - Mackinac Island Peace Garden, Mackinac Island, Michigan (USA). Includes "Be Still" sculpture by Gareth Cartiss (statue of Indian standing on a Great Turtle & flanked by an American eagle & a British lion). "This peace garden & statue represent the War of 1812 & the now lasting peace between the nations involved." Dedicated exactly 200 years to the day after Britain peacefully returned control of the island to the United States. FYI, Mackinac Island forbids automobiles, and most vehicles are horse drawn.
 US-CANADA 1812 INDIANS
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|  July 24, 2015 - Memorial plaque, Reformed Church, Nuenen, near Eindhoven, Brabant (Netherlands). Dedicated on Pentecost Sunday to commemorate the centennial of a peace sermon by Nuenen minister Bart de Ligt [1883-1938]. On the wall inside the small former Protestant church (called the "Van Gogh church"). De Ligt "was a Dutch anarcho-pacifist & antimilitarist. He is chiefly known for his support of conscientious objectors... In 1910, he was appointed pastor of the Reformed Church at Nuenen where his father had been pastor 25 years before." Information courtesy of Gerard Lössbroek (Pax Christi International).
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 | July 29, 2015 - "Open Hand - Open Mind - Open Heart," Pittman-Sullivan Park, San Antonio, Texas (USA). "32-foot tall sculpture inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s message of non-violence. Perforated steel & metal tubing depicting an open hand with two internal 5-foot diameter openings. By artist Douglas Kornfeld of Boston. As one steps through the lower stainless steel ring, one’s hand is open, mimicking the open hand of the sculpture. This action symbolically connects the visitor to the piece & the non-violent philosophy of Dr. King, according to Kornfeld." /// This is "Monday's Monument" #15.
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| August 6-September 21, 2015 - Peace Pole Project, Arcata, California (USA). "We are looking for 'visible to the public' places in Arcata (e.g. parks, businesses, stores, gardens, granges, churches, art venues & individual front yards) to install Peace Poles for the 2015 International Day Of Peace." Click here for more images. Information courtesy of Jill Hoyles.
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|  August 2015 - "Kindred Sprits," Bailic Park, Middleton, County Cork (Ireland). "Has nine giant, stainless steel eagle feathers arranged forming a protective space. Honors a group of Choctaw people in Scullyville, Oklahoma, who sent $170 to Ireland during the great potato famine (16 years after the Choctaw & other 'civilized' tribes endureed the Trail of Tears)." This is "Monday's Monument" #35. 
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|  August 25, 2015 - "Cold War Horse," Arvada, Colorado USA). "The horse is dressed in a red HAZMAT suit, goggles & a respirator, and catches the eye." /// "[It was] created to acknowledge the history of Rocky Flats Nuclear Weapons Plant, its workers & the surrounding community. During its operation Rocky Flats manufactured parts for nuclear bombs; an estimated 70,000 plutonium triggers were produced at the plant beginning in 1952. Over the years Rocky Flats experienced many routine & accidental releases [of radioactivity] into the air, soil & water, many of which eventually became public. In 1989 the FBI raided the plant because of suspected environmental crimes. Rockwell International, who operated the plant at the time, plead guilty & was ordered to pay an $18 million fine. In 1992 the plant was closed, and remediation began on what was now an EPA superfund site. Cold War Horse was created by Jeff Gipe, whose father worked in the plant." This is "Monday's Monument" #126.
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| September 2, 2015 - Commemorative plaque, Tree of Peace & Unity, United Nations Headquarters, New York City, New York (USA). "Marks the end of the Second World War in Asia & the Pacific. Placed by the weeping cherry tree planted last May [2015] on international soil to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of the war in Europe." UN WW-II TREES
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|  September 10, 2015 - Visitors Center, Flight 93 National Memorial, Shanksville, Pennsylvania (USA). At site of impact of one of four aircraft hijacked by Al-Qaeda terrorists on September 11, 2001. "The visitor center includes a seating chart showing where the passengers & hijackers had begun the flight & also features audio of last phone calls to loved ones made by two passengers & a flight attendant before they tried to retake the plane.
Another exhibit presents the view from the rear cabin of a Boeing 757, an attempt to show what the cabin looked like from the passengers' perspective. Officials trying to restore the crash site, which also contains a former mine, have planted memorial groves. They hope to build a 93-foot tower containing 40 wind chimes in 2017." 
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 |  September 2015 -
Louisville Downtown Civil Rights Trail, Louisville, Kentucky (USA). "Eleven markers along Fourth Street, the city’s primary corridor of restaurants, department stores & theaters. Through the 1950's, most white-owned establishments downtown excluded African Americans or treated them differently as customers -- for example, denying them the opportunity to try on clothes, to sit at lunch counters & to enter movie theaters. By winter 1961, small-scale demonstrations & efforts to secure legislation opening all such facilities had failed. The stirrings of protest activity that swept the South in the 1960's inspired African American teenagers who became the 'foot soldiers' of the struggle against discrimination in public accommodations in Louisville. Mass student demonstrations in spring 1961, a voter registration drive & a campaign to unseat an unsympathetic mayor & elect a new board of aldermen ultimately led to the passage of the public accommodations ordinance -- the first such law in the South." /// This is "Monday's Monument" #101.
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 September 21, 2015 - Peace Plaques, Accessible Shared Inclusive Space (OASIS) Plaza, Omagh, County Tyrone (Northern Ireland). Dedicated on International Day of Peace.
"All 51 primary & post-primary schools in the District Council...produced a 25 word peace pledge articulating what young people think should be done to allow everyone to live in a more tolerable society.
Those pledges were then transferred onto stainless steel plaques by the local council...
The new installation is adjacent to the Memorial Park, which commemorates those killed & injured in the 1998 Omagh bomb." PLAQUES IRELAND
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|  October 3, 2015 - World Peace Flame, Holsbeek, province of Flemish Brabant (Belgium). "Inspired by the existing World Peace Flame monument in Cadzand (Netherlands) which has burned continuously since 2004...
The new monument unites four formerly separate villages & five parishes that now make up the municipality. The flame is housed in a 3.6-metre-high monument, topped by a large dove of peace & prominently located on a peaceful hillside overlooking the surrounding area..." /// Click here for other World Peace Flames in Australia, India, Netherlands, Wales & USA. FLAMES DOVES BELGIUM
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|  October 9, 2015 - "Atheists in Foxholes" Monument, at Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) headquarters, Madison, Wisconsin (USA). "Contradicts an old jingoistic slogan ('There are no atheists in foxholes.') that proclaims no secular person could, or would, give their lives on the battlefield in the name of the United States. /// Inscribed: 'In memory of atheist in foxholes and the countless freethinkers who have served this country with honor and distinction. Presented with hope that in the future humankind may learn to avoid all war.'" /// This is "Monday's Monument" #42.
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 | October 11, 2015 - Living Peace Wall, Sebstopol, Sonoma County, California (USA). "Myriad memorials honor those lost to war.
Michael Gillotti [67-year-old founder & former owner of the town’s Pisces Productions massage-table manufacturing shop] believes the alternate wall of tribute he’s building in Sebastopol does nothing to detract from nor minimize their sacrifices.
The project dominating Gillotti’s life is the Living Peace Wall, panels of granite that will be capped by a cast bronze peace sign & that will be etched with the names of 'those who have worked nonviolently for peace & justice.'" Gillotti & his helpers have set the piece’s blond, arcing, concrete base. Atop it will be seven sculpted tablets of 6-inch-thick granite, the two at the ends nearly 2 feet high & the tallest, 6 feet high at the center, including the peace symbol..." /// Four 2015 Honorees: Sebastopol resident Barry Latham-Ponneck [b. 1951], Sebastopol resident Alicia Sanchez [b. 1951], Santa Rosa resident Rev. George Houser [1916-2015] & South African Nelson Mandela [1918-2013]. ///
Four 2016 Honorees:
Georgia resident Jimmy Carter [b. 1924],
Lucy Forest [1920-2015],
Linda Sartor [b. 1954] &
Santa Rosa resident Dr. Charles O. Prickett [b. 1946].
/// Information courtesy of Barry Ponneck 5Sept2016.
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 |  October 2015 - "Stix," Eighth Avenue / Korean Vets Boulevard Roundabout, Nashville, Tennessee (USA). "Stix is 27 wooden poles
each 70’ tall & made of made entirely of red cedar wood; the green space is made of native grasses. German artist Christian Moeller was inspired by colors of Native American artwork & those who originally inhabited the city [sic]. (Update: the sculpture is not meant to be representative of or tied to Native American artwork, sorry for any confusion). The most expensive public art piece ever in Nashville... Moeller's other work is displayed at the Changi Airport in Singapore, London's Science Museum, SEATAC Airport in Seattle, etc."
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|  Future - Martin Luther King, Jr., Monument, Stone Mountain, Georgia (USA). From Atlanta Journal Constitution, October 12, 2015:
"On the summit of Stone Mountain, yards away from where Ku Klux Klansmen once burned giant crosses, just above & beyond the behemoth carving of three Confederate heroes, state authorities have agreed to erect a monument to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
Specifically, an elevated tower -- featuring a replica of the Liberty Bell -- would celebrate the single line in the civil rights martyr’s 1963 'I Have a Dream' speech that makes reference to the 825-foot-tall hunk of granite: '“Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.'
'It is one of the best-known speeches in U.S. history,' said Bill Stephens, the chief executive officer of the Stone Mountain Memorial Association. 'We think it’s a great addition to the historical offerings we have here.'
The 'freedom bell' will, in fact, sound from the mountaintop. How often, or when, hasn’t been determined.
Also in the works at the state-owned, privately operated park: a permanent exhibit on African-American soldiers in the Civil War.
Both the monument & the exhibit would be financed with park revenue -- chiefly parking and entrance fees. (A Deal initiative to place an MLK statue on the grounds of the state Capitol remains in the works, delayed by the death of the sculptor originally chosen for the job.)" TOWER CIVIL_RIGHTS BELLS GEORGIA
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 | October 24, 2015 - "Enlightened Universe," Rumsey Playfield, Central Park, New York City, New York (USA). "Created by Spanish artist Cristóbal Gabarrón...in celebration of the 70th anniversary of the United Nations. Presented by the UN in partnership with The Gabarron Foundation. The sphere measures 6,371 millimeters to correspond to the Earth’s diameter of 6,371 kilometers. 70 figures represent the 70 years of the United Nations, creating a human chain of global citizenship, solidarity, tolerance, respect for nature & shared responsibility."
NY UN SPHERES
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October 28, 2015 - Comfort Women Memorial, in a "small park," Seoul (South Korea). From Yonhap News: "A monument to comfort women, a statue of a little Korean girl, now sits together with a statue of a Chinese girl. On October 28, nine girls & three boys wearing black & white traditional clothes pulled on a rope to reveal the statues of a Korean girl & Chinese girl who were sacrificed as comfort women. The Korean girl statue made by the sculptor couple Kim Woon-sung (50) & Kim Seo-kyung (49) is the same as the one [dedicated December 14, 2011] that sits in front of the building that used to house the Japanese embassy [in Seoul]. The Chinese girl statue was made by filmmaker Leo Shi-yong (54) & art professor Pan Yi-qun (54). She is wearing a Chinese dress & has braided hair. Under the Korean girl statue, there is a shadow, but there are four footprints beneath the Chinese girl statue. Officials explain that the footprints are replicas of the footprints of actual Chinese women that were sacrificed as comfort women. Leo Shi-yong first suggested making the two statues. 'Two years ago when I first saw the monument made by Kim Woon-sung, I was very moved. But at the same time I felt very lonely. Since Korea & China both suffered at the hands of the Japanese, I thought that a Chinese girl statue might keep the other statue company.'
In addition, an empty chair has been placed next to the two statues, so that statues of girls that were sacrificed from other countries can also have a place to sit. The artists that made the statues plan to make another pair of statues at a university in Shanghai next year, and are looking into making another in San Francisco
." /// Click here for New York Times article.
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|  November 11, 2015 - Monument de la Paix, Médiathèque Municipale George-Sand, Cléon, Seine-Maritime department (France). "...une œuvre collective des enfants.
Après la cérémonie de commémoration du 11 novembre, le cortège s’est rendu devant la médiathèque municipale George-Sand pour procéder au dévoilement du monument de la paix. Ce projet d’une sculpture collective sur pierre d’un arbre était sur le thème « nos mains dessinent l’arbre de la paix », précise l’artiste Sophie Gratias qui a encadré les enfants des écoles Pierre et Marie-Curie et René-Goscinny aux cours d’ateliers de sculpture sur pierre assurés par l’association les Racines du Ciel.
Nombreux à cette manifestation bon enfant, les élèves ont lu des messages de paix. Alain Ovide, maire à l’époque du projet, coordonné par Yousef Tallal, responsable (aujourd’hui à la retraite) du secteur jeunesse à la mairie, a rappelé que plusieurs œuvres ont été réalisées et que la médiathèque est un lieu public et gratuit ouvert à tous. « Il faut savoir aussi fédérer les différences… » souligne l’artiste." TREES FRANCE
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| November 12, 2015 - Monument for Liberty & Peace, Veterans Memorial Park, Abingdon, Virginia (USA). "Brass Liberty-Peace tree 12-feet high
affixed to a 7.5-ton slab of granite with roots symbolizing the five branches of the US armed forces & 22 leaves bearing peace written in languages from around the world.
In addition to the tree, the monument includes a dove, the centuries-old symbol of peace that George Washington hung atop the cupola of his estate. But centuries ago, the philosopher Plato also left a saying that's endured through the ages: "Only the dead have seen the end of war." TREES DOVES VIRGINIA QUOTATIONS
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|  November 13, 2015 - Peace Pole, Elizabeth City, North Carolina (USA). Engraved "May Pease Prevail on Earth" in eight languages. Donated by the Rotary club. POLES ROTARY NC
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 November 24, 2015 - Deserteursdenkmal / Deserters Monument, City Center, Hamburg (Germany). Google translation: "For deserters & other victims of Nazi military justice. Before the war Klotz now stands a small wall with the inscription: 'The Second World War was a war of extermination and Anggriffs-, an indebted by Nazi Germany crimes' [and] the words Helmut Heissenbuttel [1921-1996]... completed by an integrated Hörcollage, grows with biographical data of those executed. All in all a thoroughly exciting and modern memorial installation. Pity the Hannover did not have to go a similar way open heart..." /// Information courtesy of Gerard Lössbroek (Pax Christi International).
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December 2, 2015 - Comfort Women Memorial, Liji Alley, Nanijing (China). "Dedicated to the Chinese 'comfort women' of World War II...
Incredibly, it is only the first memorial of its kind in China to specifically commemorate the many female victims of Japanese military brothels. ...covers more than 3,000 square metres & is housed in a grouping of eight buildings that was the actual site of a former military brothel run by the invading Japanese more than 70 years ago...
The brothel was opened at the end of 1937 & closed in 1945, and is the largest former 'comfort station' still standing in the city..." /// Information courtesy of Gerard Lössbroek (Pax Christi International).
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December 28-30, 2015 - On Monday, Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida & South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung Se meet in Seoul (South Korea) & jointly announce (1) Japan's admission of the old military's involvement in the issue, (2) Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's apology, (3) and Japan's agreement to pay 1 billion yen ($8.3m, £5.6m) - the amount South Korea asked for - to fund 46 surviving victims (i.e. $180,000 per victim). Removal of the 2011 statue of protest in Seoul is not mentioned as a condition for the financial aid.
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On Wednesday, "a Japanese government source" says Japan's fund is contingent on removal of the statue of protest. Prime Minister Abe has set the condition, the source said, amid looming opposition by some in Japan to a plan to release the public funds to help the women with the statue of a girl remaining in place.
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Also on Wednesday, Foreign Minister Yun told a group of South Korean reporters that Seoul will urge Tokyo to refrain from behaviors “that could cause misunderstanding,” in an apparent reference to reports on Japan’s intention to link the fund with the fate of the statue.
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In a rally on Wednesday, the Korean Council for Women Drafted for Sexual Slavery by Japan, a civic group helping former comfort women, refuses calls to get rid of the statue & confirms their policy of trying to create more comfort women statues in & outside South Korea.
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| Monday, December 28, 2015 - "Monday's Monument" #36 = Open Hand, Chandigarh (India). Last peace monument selected & posted in 2015 by SAPC webmaster Susan Ives, San Antonio Peace Center (SAPC), San Antonio, Texas (USA), in a continuous weekly series started on Monday, May 4, 2015. NB: The monuments are displayed on individual web pages & are thus difficult to visit in serial order. Ms. Ives & the SAPC offer no comprehensive guide to this impressive colleciton (so far as I can tell). Click here for more about Ms. Ives.
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December 11, 2015 - "Lynching in America," Brighton, Alabama (USA). One of a series of markers for slavery & lynching by The Equal Justice Initiative (EJI).
