Ukrainian Peace Monument
As the world’s focus turns to Liverpool for the Eurovision Song Contest 2023, a 16 ft tall Ukrainian Peace Monument has been unveiled in the gardens of Strawberry Field. The Ukrainian Peace Monument will be a temporary feature in Liverpool until it will then move to Ukraine at a future date as a permanent monument when it is safe to do so.
Visitors to Liverpool can see the monument at Strawberry Field free of charge during opening hours.
Cast in aluminium, the statue depicts a man holding aloft a book, dove and the Ukrainian flag, with messages in keeping with John Lennon’s famous anti-war anthem, ‘Give Peace a Chance’ using the power of music to unite countries everywhere. Situated in the gardens that were made famous in The Beatles’ song Strawberry Fields Forever, the Ukrainian Peace Monument was created by 16-year-old Mexican art prodigy, Osbelit Garcia-Morales. After a worldwide search in 2022, a California-based artist coalition called the Global Peace Initiative awarded Osbelit the commission to design the sculpture.
The monument joins a number of symbols of peace located within the grounds of Strawberry Field, including the new Strawberry Field Bandstand, one of the most technologically advanced bandstands in the world, and based upon the drum featured on The Beatles’ iconic album cover, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. The bandstand - a donation from Cliff Cooper, CEO of Orange Amps and honorary patron of the Strawberry Field project - features a larger replica of the ‘Imagine’ mosaic in Central Park’s Strawberry Fields memorial in New York.
The Ukrainian Peace Monument is the second peace monument from the Global Peace Initiative to be unveiled in Liverpool. The John Lennon Peace Monument was unveiled by Julian and Cynthia Lennon at a ceremony in Liverpool in 2010, celebrating what would have been John Lennon’s 70th birthday and stands immediately opposite the Eurovision 2023 venue, M&S Bank Arena.