SHANGHAI, China -- The design of a global peace monument to former Beatles member John Lennon was revealed to the public for the first time at the Liverpool pavilion at the Shanghai World Expo on Tuesday.
A hand-painted scale model of the actual monument was unveiled by its creator, American teen art prodigy Laurean Voiers, to a crowd of guests and journalists gathered at the pavilion.
The finished monument to be displayed in October this year in Lennon's hometown of Liverpool will stand almost 20 feet tall and weigh nearly 10,000 lbs.
A U.S. organisation, the Global Peace Initiative, was behind the creation of the monument and they will present the finished sculpture to "The Beatles Story" in Liverpool, the world's leading Beatles-themed attraction.
Its creator, Voiers, said her sculpture which is a design of doves flying out from a musical globe was initially set to be a peace monument in Berlin.
With music an inspiration to her artwork, and songs from the Beatles on her current playlist, it was a strange coincidence for her to finally learn that her design was to be for a monument dedicated to John Lennon.
"It was only until like a couple of months ago that I found out that it was not going to be in Berlin, that it was going to be in Liverpool, and in honour of John Lennon. It's funny because I just started like really getting into the Beatles again. You know, you get into waves of listening to old music again and this past year, my apartment was decorated on Beatles stuff so it was really kind of weird how it all came together," she said.
The final design titled "Peace and Harmony" had also incorporated a white feather on one of the doves, at the request of Lennon's son Julian, who saw it as a symbol his father's spirit and peace.
This is the second of such monuments initiated by the Global Peace Initiative as they look to place a peace monument in every of the world's seven continents. The first had been a monument presented to the President of Singapore in 2005.
Liverpool is set to benefit from the unveiling of the monument in October and Jerry Golman, the managing director of "The Beatles Story" said it was about time the city had a monument to celebrate the life of John Lennon.
"When the world goes to somewhere to think of John Lennon, there's only one place that there is actually a monument to him and that's in Central Park in New York, and it's opposite where John was shot dead. And there's nothing of that sort in the place where his spirit was created and born. We felt there needs to be a counterbalance. It's quite right the people should go to New York but equally they need a place in Liverpool where they can gather and contemplate and celebrate the life of John Lennon," he said.
John Lennon' son, Julian will take part in a ceremony to unveil the final sculpture in Liverpool as part of the city's two-month of events to commemorate Lennon's 70th birthday and the 30th anniversary of his death.
It had cost $350,000 to create the monument from a mixture of brushed aluminium, acrylics and a special weather-proof coating.
Voiers said she hoped her monument would inspire more people to think about love and peace for the world.
"I hope they can look at it and just see that I am just a 19-year-old normal kid but look what I've been able to do with just having a positive attitude. I've kind of been changing the way I think about the world through making this project and it's allowed me to accept people a lot more that I ever have, and just basically have love. So I really hope that people can experience that when they see my sculpture in Liverpool," she said.
John Lennon was one of the founding members of the highly successful Beatles and fans today remember him through the pacifist message of his songs such as "Imagine" and "Give Peace a Chance".
Lennon was shot and killed as by a deranged fan as he and his wife, Yoko Ono, arrived at their Manhattan apartment building on December 8, 1980.
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The monument has been created by 19-year-old Lauren Voiers
